The Telugu Desam Party has finalised the candidature of Rayapati Sambasiva Rao for Narsaraopet Parliamentary Constituency. The five-time MP from Guntur is all set to enter the battlefield in the heart of Palnadu, for the first time in his four-decade-old political career. He is pitted against Ayodhya Rami Reddy, MD of the Ramky Group, who is contesting on the YSRC ticket. The Congress, though, has not declared the candidate yet.
The party’s decision, however, has not gone down well with sitting MP Modugula Venugopala Reddy, who had pitched for the Narsaraopet seat till the last minute. Though Mr. Reddy was given the option of contesting in Assembly segments in either Guntur West or Bapatla, he chose against it.
Mr. Reddy may take a call on his political future in the coming days.
Here Mr. Sambasiva Rao starts with an advantage. Four out of seven Assembly segments in Narsaraopet Lok Sabha segment- Pedakurapadu, Chilakaluripet, Gurazala and Vinukonda-were being held by the TDP. Delimitation has culled the Reddy-dominated constituencies of Markapur, Kambham and Darsi in Prakasam district and were merged with the Ongole Constituency.
In another related development, the TDP also firmed up the candidature of local industrialist and Tulasi Seeds chairman Ramachandra Prabhu for Guntur West Assembly constituency. Mr. Prabhu would now lock horns with former Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, in what looks like a repeat of 2009 elections. Mr. Prabhu, a long time associate of Mr. Lakshminarayana, sprang a surprise by contesting against the latter on the PRP ticket. Though he polled more than 30,000 votes, he lost to Mr. Lakshminarayana.
