It appears the bifurcation blues has badly hit Nandyal parliamentary constituency, one of the key seats in the State. The Congress, which won the seat 13 times since 1952, is the worst victim of the division.
The party, which got its Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao elected from Nandyal with a thumping majority of 5.80 lakh votes in the 1991 by-election, is in a pathetic condition. So much so that there are no takers for the party ticket. Some of the names that are never heard before in political circles are being considered now.
Few names among those are: B.Y. Ramaiah, DCC president, Gopavaram Nagi Reddy, who is aspiring to contest for the Assembly seat, and Bojja Dasaratha Ramireddy, who is not even an active member of the party.
The constituency, which was once represented by prominent leaders like Pendekanti Venkata Subbaiah, who won the seat six times, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who became Speaker and later the President of India, and Madduri Subba Reddy, is a pale shadow of its past glory.
The YSR Congress Party is sitting pretty in the constituency. S.P.Y. Reddy, sitting Congress MP, is now entering the fray on YSRC ticket. Another prominent leader of the party, Bhuma Nagireddy, who also hails from the constituency, is, however, eyeing the Nandyal Assembly seat.
S.P.Y. Reddy, a wily and seasoned businessman-turned-politician, is riding high on his popularity with good contact with farmers and other sections in the constituency. The Telugu Desam Party is planning to field N. Md. Farooq, former Minister, keeping in view the large chunk of Muslim voters in the constituency. While Mr. Farooq wants to test his luck from the Assembly seat, the party leadership is pressurising him to contest for the Parliament seat.
Gangula Pratap Reddy’s name is also being considered by the TDP. Mr. Pratap Reddy did not join the TDP formally, but his brother Prabhakar Reddy joined the party during N. Chandrababu Naidu’s recent Praja Garjana meeting at Kurnool.
