With months to go for the municipal elections, the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Guntur city has been rocked by wrangling over a post that surfaced in recent weeks.
The nomination of Mannava Subba Rao, a senior leader of the party, as the Chairman of Agricultural Market Committee, Guntur, against the wishes of Guntur West MLA Modugula Venugopala Reddy stoked the embers that have been burning up for some months.
Mr. Venugopal Reddy, who had earlier been an MP representing Narasaraopet, has openly aired his dissent over being sidelined by the party. His outbursts against the senior leaders have often caused embarrassment to the leadership. It was in this backdrop that Mr. Reddy had pitched for Venna Sambasiva Reddy, a TDP leader from Pedakurapadu constituency, but Minister for Agriculture Prathipati Pulla Rao threw his weight behind Mr. Subba Rao.
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In the end, Mr. Subba Rao was given the nod which upset Mr. Reddy, who gave the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Subba Rao the miss, a move that might not go well with the party leadership.
Even after being given the nod by the Chief Minister himself, Mr. Subba Rao has been forced to wait for three months before being sworn in as Chairman, as Mr. Reddy was bent on having his man as the Chairman.
The developments in the party has clearly made the task of choosing the mayoral candidate a tough one. While Mr. Pulla Rao seems to prefer Maddali Giridhar, the party’s leader in Guntur East constituency, Mr. Reddy is preferring a leader from Kapu community.
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Mr. Giridhar had lost the elections in 2014 by a narrow margin of 5,000 votes and has since been the party’s face in the constituency.
With the ruling party’s boat being rocked by infighting, the Opposition YSR Congress Party is keen on clinching the advantage. The merger of 10 panchayats in the Guntur Municipal Corporation has further emboldened the Opposition ranks as they have a fair presence of Reddy and Kapu voters.
Run up to civic polls is not smooth