Graduate MLC elections: Split likely in Kakinada as disagreement over ticket to sitting MLA deepens

They met at Satya Function Hall here on Friday and warned the TDP leadership of changing parties if its Kakinada urban candidate was not replaced.

KAKINADA: The politics of Kakinada has been hotting up of late with a section of local corporators opposing the candidature of sitting Kakinada urban MLA Vanamadi Kondababu in the coming polls.
The rebels had written a letter to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu suggesting that the ticket be given to other deserving candidate. But Naidu’s decision to allot the party ticket to Kondababu has not gone down well with 17 corporators. 

They met at Satya Function Hall here on Friday and warned the TDP leadership of changing parties if its Kakinada urban candidate was not replaced. It may be noted the Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) has 50 divisions out of which elections were held in 48 divisions. In the 2017 polls, the TDP got 32 seats, YSRC got 10, BJP three, while three others were independents.

Later, the Independents merged with the TDP taking the party’s strength to 35. After TDP’s Sunkara Pavani was announced as the KMC Mayor, TDP corporator Makineedi Seshukumari resigned from the party and joined the Jana Sena and the party’s tally reduced to 34. But recently the TDP got the much-needed boost in the form of YSRC corporators Kampara Ramesh and Palaka Surya Kumari crossing over to TDP. 

With Kakinada urban ticket going to Kondababu, it looks like the TDP would end up with only 19 corporators in its ranks. Presently, the local YSRC leaders are trying their best to woo the 17 TDP rebel corporators into their ranks.   Meanwhile, what came as a jolt was BC Association leader Peddemsetti Venkateswara Rao’s WhatsApp video supporting Kondababu, which has gone viral. In the video, he alleged that there was a casteist plot against him (Kondababu) in the coming polls. 

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