Miffed over the party’s choices for Assembly segments, senior Congress leader Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy said on Thursday that he had asked the party leadership to look for an alternative candidate for the Narsaraopet Lok Sabha segment.
Mr. Krishna Reddy made these comments at Vinukonda after attending the nomination of Makkena Mallikarjuna Rao. The influential Kasu family is miffed at the party leadership choosing newcomers to contest from Chilakaluripet, Macherla and Gurazala. Kasu Mahesh Reddy, son of Krishna Reddy, has already said that he was opting out of the race for the Narsaraopet Assembly segment due to financial constraints. It appears that Syed Jeelani, Chairman of the AMC, is in the race for the ticket from this segment.
Three candidates-- Anam Sanjeeva Reddy (Gurazala), M. Hanumantha Rao (Chilakaluripet) and R. Narendra Babu (Macherla)-- have already filed their nomination papers on Thursday.
Krishna up for a recordMr. Krishna Reddy is set to create history by becoming the only active politician to contest a record ten times in the coming Assembly/ Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Krishna Reddy won for the first time in 1978. He contested from Gurazala in 1983 losing out to Julakanti Nagi Reddy. In 1985, he shifted back to Narsaraopet losing out to Kodela Siva Prasada Rao. Mr, Krishna Reddy successfully contested from Narsaraopet Lok Sabha segment in 1989 and repeated the feat in 1991. However, he lost in 1996 and came back to contest in Assembly elections in 1999, but lost to Kodela again.
In 2004 elections, Mr. Kasu swept the polls extracting sweet revenge against his bête noir Kodela. He handled the portfolio of Cooperation and Civil Supplies.
In 2009 elections, he again won in a triangular contest.
