Chaos prevailed among the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) cadre and supporters of tribal leader S. Donnu Dora after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a shock move announced that its leader Pangi Rajababu will be contesting from the Araku Valley (ST) Assembly constituency. The TDP had announced Mr. Donnu Dora as the candidate from Araku Valley almost two months ago.
Even before the release of the list of Assembly candidates by the TDP, party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu had himself announced the name of Mr. Donnu Dora during a ‘Raa Kadali Raa’ programme held in January this year. His name was confirmed by the TDP high command once again in the release of the first list in February.
At a time when the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance was looking for a candidate to contest from Paderu, the announcement of a BJP candidate from Araku Valley has come as a shocker, especially when the TDP had already announced its candidate. As confusion prevailed, Mr. Donnu Dora immediately spoke to his cadre on Wednesday night.
He expressed confidence that he would remain the candidate as part of the alliance, as Mr. Naidu himself had announced his name. The TDP leader added that there was no intimation regarding the BJP candidate’s announcement. Assuring that he would speak to the high command, he urged his supporters not to show dissent.
As per the close supporters of Donnu Dora, he has been already actively campaigning in various mandals under Araku Valley Assembly constituency and such decisions will harm the party’s prospects. As of now, the TDP cadre is waiting for the high command’s response.
Mr. Donnu Dora, a former government teacher, contested as an Independent candidate in the 2019 elections. He stood second with over 27,000 votes, while YSRCP leader Ch Phalguna won the polls with over 53,000 votes. TDP candidate Kidari Sravan Kumar stood third with around 17,000 votes. After the 2019 elections, Mr. Dora joined the TDP.
Meanwhile, the YSRCP has fielded Regam Matsya Lingam as its candidate from Araku Valley constituency.
Araku Valley has about 2.41 lakh voters of which 1.23 lakh are women voters. Five mandals – Araku Valley, Munchingputtu, Pedabayalu, Hukumpeta, Dumbriguda and Ananthagiri mandals — come under the constituency.
