Telugu Desam brings Challa Babu into the fray with ‘Why not Punganur?’ slogan

With TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu announcing Challa as the party’s candidate for Minister Peddireddi’s Punganur constituency, it is likely to be a close fight between the two Ramachandra Reddys

TDP candidate Challa Ramachandra Reddy, aka Challa Babu, during an election campaign at a village in Punganur constituency. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

To counter the ‘Why not Kuppam?’ slogan of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, which targets the MLA seat in TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu’s constituency, the TDP, has come up with the slogan ‘Why not Punganur?’ calling for its party workers to work towards bagging the MLA set in Minister Peddireddi’s constituency.

The TDP has also identified a formidable candidate, Challa Ramachandra Reddy, also known as Challa Babu, to collide head-on with the Peddireddi family, which wields considerable clout in the district.

Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy won from Piler as a Congress candidate in 1989, 1999 and 2004 and moved over to the adjacent Punganur, from where he continued his winning streak in 2009, 2014 and 2019—the last two times on a YSRCP ticket.

Challa Ramachandra Reddy, meanwhile, is learnt to be depending heavily on the TDP’s solid vote bank of 80,000 votes in the Punganur constituency, though it failed to wrest the Assembly segment from Peddireddi.

“Irrespective of the candidate, the TDP has always bagged the second position here by winning a considerable number of votes. This time, we will not let Punganur slip through our hands,” Mr. Challa told The Hindu, bubbling with confidence.

Interestingly, Bode Ramachandra Yadav, who floated the Bharat Chaitanya Yuvajana Party (BCYP) amid much fanfare, is also contesting from this constituency.

The JSP advantage

It may be recalled here that he had contested as the JSP candidate in 2019 and bagged 16,452 votes. What adds to Challa’s confidence is the alliance with the JSP and the vote share that it is likely to add up, notwithstanding the presence of BCYP in the fray.

In 2019, Peddireddi Ramchandra Reddy defeated TDP’s N. Anusha Reddy with a majority of over 40,000 votes.

Lucrative offer

Recently, Mr. Naidu not only announced Challa Babu as the party candidate but also reportedly offered him a lucrative offer of cabinet berth or TTD Board Chairmanship if he emerged successful in the elections.

This is similar to Peddireddi’s nurturing of MLC K.R.J. Bharat, to be pitted against Mr Chandrababu Naidu in Kuppam. Mr. Bharat has also been promised a cabinet berth if he emerged a giant-killer by defeating Mr. Naidu.

While it is all about oneupmanship in Punganur, both the Ramachandra Reddys are getting ready for a showdown.