Industrialist and Chairman and Managing Director of PVP Ventures Potluri Vara Prasad is all set to formally join the YSR Congress Party on January 26.
According to party insiders, he is likely to be the party candidate for Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat. Mr. Prasad, who hails from the Kamma community, could get good support in Krishna District the party believes and party president Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy is also believed to be in favour of giving ticket to a person from this dominant community in the region. Vijayawada Parliamentary constituency comprises Tiruvuru, Nandigama, Mylavaram, Jaggayyapeta, Vijayawada (West), Vijayawada (Central) and Vijayawada (East) Assembly segments and of them Tirivuru and Nandigama are reserved for Scheduled Castes. According to a prominent party leader here, though the ‘Jagan factor’ will play a huge role in the 2014 elections, the caste equations will also be a major factor, the party leaders believe. Mr. Prasad will face stiff opposition from the TDP candidate, Kesineni Srinivas (Nani), who also hails from the same community. If the Congress continues to bank on the sitting MP Lagadapati Rajgopal, it will be a battle between the three from the same community.
It is believed that voters from the two reserved segments and those from the BC communities would be the deciding factor. In Machilipatanam Parliamentary constituency, the sudden death of Kukkala Nageswara Rao, who was the likely MP candidate, has put the YSR Congress in a spot. The party is scouting for a new candidate and two names making the rounds are: Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) and the late Nageswara Rao’s eldest son Venkata Vidyasagar. Penamaluru, Gannavaram, Pedana, Gudivada, Machilipatnam, Avanigadda and Pamarru Assembly constituencies form the Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency. These areas are Kapu and Yadava base. While Mr.Nani is from the Kapu community, Vidyasagar is a Yadava.
