Rayapati launches campaign amid fanfare

April 10, 2014 12:21 am | Updated November 16, 2021 07:27 pm IST - GUNTUR:

Rayapati Sambasiva Rao signing the membership form at the TDP office in Guntur on Wednesday.    —  Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Rayapati Sambasiva Rao signing the membership form at the TDP office in Guntur on Wednesday. — Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Veteran Member of Parliament Rayapati Sambasiva Rao launched his election campaign amid fanfare on Wednesday by offering prayers to the presiding deities at Anjaneya Swamy Temple here at Kothapet.

The five-time MP from Guntur, who joined the Telugu Desam recently, later drove to the party office where he took the primary membership of the party.

Senior TDP leaders -- Makineni Pedarathaiah and Mannava Subba Rao -- party candidate for Guntur Lok Sabha Galla Jayadev and MLAs -- D. Narendra, Nakka Anand Babu and K. Sridhar -- welcomed Mr. Rao at the party office. Mr. Rao is all set to contest on the TDP ticket from Narsaraopet Lok Sabha constituency.

Later, he offered prayers at Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Vaikuntapuram in Pedakurapadu, part of Narsaraopet Lok Sabha segment. Addressing party men, Mr. Rao said he had severed a three-decade-long association with Congress as he was pained at the manner in which the State had been bifurcated. The Congress had not heeded to the pleas of the people and would pay a heavy price, he said.

Makeshift office Mr. Rao has made arrangements for staying in Narsaraopet for a month and a makeshift party office with all the paraphernalia has been put in place. As Mr. Rao kick starts his campaign, he begins with an advantage. Four out of the seven Assembly segments in Narsaraopet Lok Sabha segment are with the TDP. Post-delimitation, demerger of Reddy-dominant mandals in Ongole Lok Sabha segment had changed the caste dynamics of the constituency. With the Congress running out of steam and the YSRC facing its first test, Mr. Rao is hoping to turn the tide in his favour.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.