Congress stalwart T. Subbarami Reddy is stated to have decided not to contest from Nellore Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 elections, considering the reverses in 2012 by-election and also poor chances of winning from here in future.
Mr. Subbarami Reddy was defeated by YSRC candidate Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy by a huge margin of 2.91 lakh in the by-election. His close followers said that besides being upset with the party’s district leadership here after the by-election defeat, TSR was primarily interested in Visakhapatnam.
With the YSR Congress continuing to be strong here and Congress not picking up much, Mr. Subbarami Reddy is stated to have decided not to contest from Nellore again. Ever since, he has been bringing pressure on the party central leadership to give him Visakhapatnam ticket in the coming election.
The latest differences between Mr. Subbarami Reddy and Union Minister Daggubati Purandeswari, who represents Visakhapatnam constituency at present, brought into focus the diminishing fortunes of the Congress party in Nellore district. Even in 2012, it was said that had it not been for Mr. Subbarami Reddy, the Congress would have been relegated to the third position.
At that time, though Nellore rural MLA Anam Vivekananda Reddy offered to contest in 2012 by-election, ultimately TSR’s name was suggested by the State leadership so as to give a keen fight to the YSRC.
TSR came to Nellore with lots of zeal to revive party’s chances but his election managers gave up hope six days prior to the day of polling itself.
Clarification
While refuting allegations made by Congress MLA Daggubati Venkateswara Rao on Wednesday, Mr. Subbarami Reddy made clarifications over his contesting from Nellore constituency. He said that the high command asked him to contest as the party’s position was ‘weak’ in Nellore.
Sources said that TSR’s latest outburst was because of his fear that the high command would once again ask him to contest from Nellore considering the continued weak standing of the party. The TDP’s position was no different as it also struggled hard to convince Vanteru Venugopala Reddy to contest in that by-election.
As things stand today, both the Congress and the TDP would have to make special efforts for getting strong candidates for Nellore constituency.
