This story is from March 8, 2019

Lok Sabha polls: Kovelamudi Ravindra front runner for Guntur West TDP ticket

Lok Sabha polls: Kovelamudi Ravindra front runner for Guntur West TDP ticket
Kovelamudi Ravindra (left) interacts with a resident during his padayatra in Guntur city
GUNTUR: Heavy competition for the ticket for Guntur West assembly segment has put the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leadership in a tight spot. Party chief Chandrababu Naidu could finalise nominees for just two assembly segments even after holding two rounds of discussions with the party leaders in Guntur Loksabha constituency in the past one week.
Naidu has so far stamped his nod for renomination of Alapati Rajendraprasad from Tenali assembly segment and Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar from Ponnur segment.

According to sources, party is scouting for a strong local candidate as its previous experiments with non-local candidates did not help it consolidate its strength.
Party local cadres have been asking the party leadership not to promote the non-locals who would dump the party at an opportune time. They are citing the recent resignation of sitting MLA Modugula Venugopala Reddy, who is joining YSRCP.
Party senior leader and business tycoon Kovelamudi Ravindra (Nani) has in fact launched a padayatra in the constituency and is visiting its divisions for the past fortnight.
Nani, who has strong support of the local activists, is confident of getting the ticket to contest the election. Nani was in fact most unlucky to miss the ticket in the past in spite of his dedicated service to the party in the past two decades.
“I have been sincerely working for the party and sacrificed ticket for others in the past. I am hopeful of party supremo taking my services to the party into account and allow me to contest the next election,” said Nani.

Interestingly, a majority of the division wing presidents and youth leaders are backing Nani’s candidature for Guntur West segment.
Sources said that sitting MP Galla Jayadev has reportedly requested the party leadership to consider the name of a non-kamma leader for west segment in order to do justice to all communities.
He reported to have proposed businessman Maddali Giridhar's name, who lost the election from Guntur East segment in the previous election
Similarly, NRI industrialist Mannava Mohan Krishna is also lobbying for the ticket. However, local cadres are strongly opposing Giridhar and Mohan Krishna on the ground that they were not accessible leaders. While Mohan Krishna is an NRI and suddenly landed on the political stage, Giridhar doesn’t enjoy support of his own vysya community.
“Party supremo Chandrababu Naidu should honour the feelings of party cadres rather than MP or other non-local leaders. In fact, MP Jayadev himself is a non-local and most inaccessible leader to the party cadres. Naidu should pick up a leader like Nani, who is accessible to the activists,” felt activist K Ramakrishna.
Nani is the close relative of film director and TTD board member K Raghavendra Rao and is also associated with Sri Satya Sai trusts of Puttaparthi.
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