Realignment of political forces on the cards

A realignment of political forces is on the cards in the district. Member of Parliament Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, who had severed his association with the Congress, is all set to jump on to the bandwagon of the new party being floated by former Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Mr. Rao made his intentions clear during a meeting with his close aides here on Friday. A four-time MP from Guntur, the tobacco baron-turned politician is likely to contest from the Guntur Lok Sabha segment.

Alternative plan

The senior MP is also toying with the idea of contesting on a TDP ticket from Narsaraopet Lok Sabha segment, though chances allotting a ticket to him are slim.

In Bapatla, senior Congress MLA Gade Venkata Reddy is also thinking of changing his loyalties. A staunch integrationist for the last four decades, Mr. Reddy has been holding confabulations with his close followers. Some of his close aides have suggested that he could contest on TDP ticket, but Mr. Reddy has ruled that out. His attempts to reach out to YSRC too did not succeed as the party reportedly confirmed the candidature of Kona Raghupati.

Redrawing of strategy

Former Ministers from the district, Kanna Lakshminarayana, Kasu Krishna Reddy and Dokka Manikya Vara Prasada Rao, are however, holding onto their ground and refrained from openly criticising the Congress. Former Speaker Nadendla Manohar too has avoided making controversial statements on Telangana.

It would be interesting to see how these leaders would go about campaigning in the polls scheduled to be held during April-May. The leaders are busy redrawing their strategy in the post-bifurcation phase and waiting for the people’s anger to subside. The leaders are also hoping that the new-found euphoria over identification of capital and talk of special development package to coastal and Rayalaseema districts would help them go to the people.

Interesting development

Mr. Manikya Vara Prasad, who is considered a protégé of Rayapati, has chosen to remain in the Congress. This perhaps would be the first time the two would be fighting the polls on separate planks.

In Narsaraopet, former Minister Kasu Krishna Reddy is keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls.