Former Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Perni Nani challenged Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh to prove his mettle by contesting and winning from Gudivada Assembly constituency which the latter’s grandfather N.T. Rama Rao had represented twice.
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“Mr. Lokesh should realise his strengths instead of making distasteful remarks against ruling YSRCP leaders and making tall claims of carrying forward the legacy of NTR,” Mr. Nani said at a press conference at the YSRCP office on Wednesday.
“Mr. Lokesh has been making unsavoury comments against Gudivada MLA Kodali Nani and Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi. If Mr. Lokesh and his party leaders really had any self-respect, they should first announce who the TDP leader from Gudivada constituency is. Mr. Lokesh boasts of being the grandson of TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao, who was elected from Gudivada twice. To prove his legacy, Mr. Lokesh should contest against Mr. Kodali Nani from Gudivada,” Mr. Perni Nani said.
“I wonder why the TDP leaders all of a sudden are concerned about the educational qualifications of Mr. Vamsi, a veterinary doctor who had contested the Lok Sabha election in 2009 from Vijayawada on a TDP ticket, and had won the Gannavaram Assembly seat as a TDP candidate both in 2014 and 2019,” Mr. Perni Nani said.
The TDP has now invited a person who was defeated in Gannavaram in the last election into their party as they do not have any candidates to field there, Mr. Perni Nani said in a veiled reference to Yarlagadda Venkat Rao who recently quit the YSRCP and joined the TDP.