The Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Cheepurupalli constituency was plunged into turmoil after Kimidi Nagarjuna, the party’s in-charge for the constituency as well as its Parliamentary party wing president, tendered his resignation from both posts on Friday.
Mr. Nagarjuna’s shock move comes after the TDP leadership decided to allot the Cheepurupalli seat to former Minister and veteran TDP leader Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao, who also happens to be the former’s paternal uncle.
The party was in a fix over allotment of seats in the Vizianagaram Lok Sabha segment under which Cheepurupalli constituency falls. It is learnt that even Mr. Kala Venkata Rao himself was reluctant to contest from Cheepurupalli as it would lead to strife within the family.
Mr. Kala Venkata Rao is understood to have requested a ticket from Etcherla constituency, as he had won from there in the past. However, the party leadership decided to field him from Cheepurupalli instead, pitting him against YSRCP heavyweight Botcha Satyanarayana. The Etcherla seat was allotted to the BJP as part of the seat-sharing agreement of the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance.
In 2019, Mr. Nagarjuna had contested unsuccessfully on a TDP ticket from Cheepurupalli, losing to Mr. Satyanarayana.
Followers up in arms
Upset over the denial of a ticket, Mr. Nagarjuna’s followers burnt TDP pamphlets and took out a rally in Cheepurupalli protesting against the party leadership.
The TDP had earlier asked senior leader Ganta Srinivasa Rao to contest from Cheepurupalli. However, he declined to do so, stating that he did not have enough time to gain a foothold in the constituency.
A miffed Mr. Nagarjuna told reporters that he tendered his resignation from the key party posts as the TDP leadership failed to recognise his dedicated efforts in the last few years.
