The Telugu Desam Party leaders in Madanapalle have come to struck an unanimous stand that they would oppose giving the Madanapalle Assembly seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party as part of the talks between the two parties for forging an alliance in the assembly and general elections.
Senior party leaders, former MLA D. Ramesh, Ramadas Chowdary, DR Tulasi Prasad, Srinivasulu and others have been holding parlays for the last few days to bring pressure on party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu to drop the move to give the local seat to the BJP.
Speaking to reporters, they contended that ever since the emergence of the TDP in 1982, Madanapalle remained the bastion of the party, though it was lost to the Congress party in 2009.
Cadre standThey maintained that with the Congress being out of the scene, post the bifurcation issue, the TDP had once again regained its full glory, and is unbeatable in the constituency. Even when the TDP was out of power for a decade, the cadres never left the party, and worked with full vigour to hoist the party flag again.
A delegation of the local leaders are expected to meet Mr. Naidu in Hyderabad in a couple of days, after the first phase of Zilla Parishad elections, to make their stand clear. They have vowed not to work for the BJP.
Muslim populationAnother aspect much bothering the local cadres here is that the constituency holds over 40 per cent Muslim population and the chances of the BJP winning here are believed to be remote.
Senior BJP leader from Tamballapalle constituency, Challapalle Narasimha Reddy, who was defeated as the BJP candidate on a couple of occasions, is said to be firm on contesting from Madanapalle constituency this time.
