The talk of Chairman and Managing Director of PVP Ventures Potluri Vara Prasad joining YSR Congress and contesting from the Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat appears to have hit a dead end.
The industrialist was to be formally drafted into the party fold on January 26, but sources within the party confirm that it was not happening, as the party president rejected PVP’s conditions, prior to joining.
He was the strongest candidate for the Lok Sabha ticket, but his precondition that at least one out of the seven Assembly seats be given to a Kamma candidate and the Vijayawada Central Assembly ticket be given to a Brahmin, was not accepted by the party core committee, said a senior leader.
Mr. Vara Prasad did not make any official statement about his joining, or about his ticket prospects or the preconditions, but party insiders say that his candidature was almost confirmed, but the last-minute demands seem to have stalled the process.
The Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency is predominantly a Kamma bastion with over two lakh votes and all the seven probable YSRC Assembly candidates are non-Kammas. This appears to have upset Mr. Prasad, who hails from that community.
Three new names are doing the rounds in the party office, though it is still a hush-hush affair. Sources say that three from Kamma community are in focus. The probable names are industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, popularly known as Matrix Prasad, cardiologist Y.V. Rao and businessman Koneru Prasad.
Nimmagadda Prasad is one of the prime accused in one of the cases related to companies held by YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy. He was arrested by the CBI and put in jail for 17 months and has been out on bail since Oct 2013.
None of the candidates or the party has come out with an official statement but it is expected to be made public by the month-end, according to sources.
