The going for the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance has been smooth in the Uttarandhra region till it announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly seats. Trouble started brewing in several Assembly segments once the list is announced, and this appears to give the ruling party a marginal edge.
In Uttarandhra, there are 34 Assembly segments under five parliamentary constituencies. There is trouble for the alliance in at least five Assembly segments.
Under the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha segment, dissidence is palpable in Visakhapatnam (South) Assembly constituency. Here, Vamsi Krishna Yadav, the alliance candidate from JSP, is pitched against sitting MLA Vasupalli Ganesh, a formidable foe who won in 2014 and 2019 elections on the TDP ticket, but switched his loyalties to the YSRCP.
While Mr. Ganesh is a local person, Mr. Vamsi is new to the constituency and a non-local.
The simmering discontent appears to continue and may play spoilsport for the alliance. Mr. Vamsi’s candidature is being vehemently opposed both by the TDP and JSP cadres.
Similar is the situation in Pendurthi Assembly constituency. Former Minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy was replaced by JSP’s Panchakarla Ramesh Babu.
Being one of the senior most leaders in the TDP, Mr. Satyanarayana Murthy did not take it lightly. He and his followers have come down heavily on TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and expressed their views openly.
Without Mr. Satyanarayana’s support it would be difficult for Mr. Ramesh Babu to sail through against YSRCP’s sitting MLA Adeep Raj.
In Alluri Sitharama Raju district, where YSRCP made a clean sweep in the 2019 elections, the ruling party seems to have an edge as the discontentment among the alliance parties is growing with every passing day.
The alliance has named Kothapalli Geetha as its MP candidate from Araku. The tribal people are opposing her candidature. Ms. Geetha, a BJP leader, is accused of being involved in scams. She is said to be having difficulty in garnering support from the locals. The tribal organisations even doubt her ST status. Araku is a tribal reserved constituency.
In Paderu, former TDP MLA Giddi Eswari has made it clear that she will contest as an Independent as the party named Killu Venkata Ramesh Naidu as its candidate. This can prove counterproductive for the TDP. Ms. Eswari had won in 2014, but was defeated by Bhagyalakshmi of the YSRCP in 2019.
The TDP is also facing an uphill task in Araku after it named Raja Babu as its candidate. Donnu Dora, an aspirant who worked in the constituency for the last five years, is today a disgruntled leader. He openly expressed his dissatisfaction even as Mr. Naidu promised to take care of his career once the alliance comes to power.
In Srikakulam, there are issues for the alliance in Etcherla and Srikakulam Assembly constituencies.
“We are expecting to win at least 22 of 34 Assembly constituencies. Not only that, we are in a better position due to the welfare schemes, but we are hoping that the dissidence factor will play in our favour,” YSRCP Uttarandhra coordinator Y.V. Subba Reddy told The Hindu.
Admitting that there was some anti-incumbency against the government, he said the dissidence in the alliance parties would nullify this aspect.
