The stage is set for admission of Pitani Satyanarayana, former minister and vice-president of the Jai Samaikhyandhra Party, into the TDP. Speaking to this correspondent over phone from Hyderabad, Mr. Pitani said he will be formally admitted by the TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu on April 9.
He has reportedly got an assurance for the TDP ticket for Achanta Assembly segment from Mr. Naidu during a meeting on Monday night. Mr. Satyanarayana, hailing from the predominant Settibalija community of the Backward Classes got elected from Achanta in West Godavari district in 2009 Assembly elections on Congress ticket. He broke away with the Congress and joined hands with former Chief Minister N. Kirankumar Reddy to float the JSP.
The TDP top brass is understood to have decided to invite Mr. Satyanarayana into the party with an eye on the numerically strong Settibalija community in the district. Settibalijas are capable of playing a decisive role in tilting the scales in at least half a dozen Assembly segments in the delta region such as Achanta, Narsapur, Palacole, Nidadavole, Bhimavaram and Tanuku.
In Achanta, Settibalija community has the highest number of votes (46,000), followed by Kapus (22000), SCs (21,000) and Gowdas (4,000). The neighbouring Narsapur and Palacole Assembly segments have the Settibalija-Gowda voters in the range of 25,000-30,000. Although the Settibalijas and Gowdas live on toddy tapping, they are treated as separate entities in East and West Godavari districts unlike in the Telangana region.
“It will be a smooth-sailing”, comments Mr. Satyanarayana on the prospects of his re-election from Achanta on the TDP ticket. The TDP has already declared Gubbala Tammaiah, a retired government degree college principal and brother-in-law of Mr. Satyanarayana as its candidate. He lost the prospects of contesting the election as a TDP nominee now with the defection of Mr. Satyanarayana. The YSRC has filed a greenhorn Kandiboyina Srinivas of the same community while the Congress is finding it difficult to find a suitable candidate.
