Putting the poll alliance to the knot, Telugu Desam Party candidate B.N. Vijaykumar and Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Dara Sambaiah remained in the fray in Santhanuthalapadu Assembly constituency as the withdrawal of nominations ended on Wednesday evening.
Though the segment was allotted to the BJP as part of the seat sharing arrangement, the TDP leadership issued the ‘B-form’ to Mr. Vijaykumar. Now, both the candidates will be sweating it out along with the 15 other contestants .
Asked about the development, senior BJP leader Bathina Narasimha Rao said that the TDP had now promised to ‘suspend’ Mr. Vijaykumar from the party. Mr. Sambaiah said that TDP MP Sujana Chowdary during a telephonic conversation promised to support his candidature.
In all, 187 candidates are in the fray for the 12 Assembly constituencies after 47 contestants withdrew their nominations. As many as 15 candidates will contest for the Ongole Lok Sabha segment with three withdraw from contest. In Bapatla Lok Sabha constituency, 14 nominees are in the fray with two candidates withdrew their nominations.
