Congress shocked, TDP embarassed
HYDERABAD: The TDP, BJP and Congress were all left red-fed as the last date for withdrawal of nominations closed in Seemandhra on Wednesday. If rebels refused to withdraw and are set to give the jitters to the TDP and BJP, the Congress suffered the ignominy of its official candidates running away from the battlefield.
For the record, the TDP has allotted 13 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats to the BJP as part of the poll pact. But TDP leaders, who filed nominations in Guntakal, Santanutalapadu and Kadapa Assembly segments with official B-forms, refused to withdraw.
Similarly, in Tadepalligudem and Paderu, unofficial TDP candidates still remain in the poll fray. In Guntakal, TDP candidate Jitendra Goud refused to back off despite pressure from BJP leaders.
He claimed he had filed his nomination at the behest of party chief N Chandrababu Naidu and that he need not have to bother about the BJP's objections.
The TDP, on its part, is facing rebel trouble from within in some places. At Rapthadu in Anantapur district, TDP candidate Paritala Sunitha has to contend with Vepakunta Rajanna who used to be her aide at one time.
In West Godavari, TDP rebel Balajee and sitting TDP MLA TV Rama Rao have also refused to step back from the contest in Placole and Kovur respectively.
In Visakhapatnam district, former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, a TDP nominee for Bheemunipatnam seat, has to contend with S Anita, a party rebel. However, TDP candidate for Guntur Lok Sabha seat Galla Jayadev breathed easy after party rebel Srinivasa Yadav withdrew from the contest.
Similarly, in Kaikaluru, which was allotted to the TDP, sitting party MLA Jaya Mangala Venkata Ramana filed his nomination papers against the official candidate but withdrew from the contest after some persuasion.
BJP leader in Chittoor N S Tulasinath, who acted like a bee in the bonnet for Chandrababu Naidu himself, also withdrew his nomination.
As far as Congress nominees are concerned, the party had to eat the humble pie with official candidates withdrawing from the contest in some Assembly constituencies.
The official Congress nominee for Kalyanadurgam, Devendrappa,, -the seat was earlier held by Andhra PCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy ' withdrew his nomination. He later said he withdrew his nomination since he was joining the YSRC.
In Narsipatnam, Visakhapatnam district, the party's official nominee K Appala Naidu withdrew from the contest.
The development has come at a time when party leaders are planning to organise a series of public meetings in Seemandhra by inviting party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to give a much-needed morale booster to the cadres.
The party leaders want them to address meetings in at least four places after polling is over in Telangana on April 30.
News Posted: 24 April, 2014
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