Nara Lokesh to contest Assembly elections from Visakhapatnam?

With the clock ticking on the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the political parties seem to have the task cut out in choosing their candidates from different constituencies across the state. The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) too, led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, has been busy chalking strategies to announce the suitable candidates for the 175 Assembly seats. And going by the latest buzz, Cabinet Minister for IT, Panchayat Raj, and Rural Development, Nara Lokesh may contest the upcoming AP Assembly elections from Visakhapatnam.

As per Eenadu, the think tank of TDP has been considering to field Lokesh from either Bheemili or Visakhapatnam North. With Chandrababu Naidu seeking information on both these constituencies, city’s TDP leader, Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar opined that the constituency of Visakhapatnam North, given its geographical advantage, would be a better bet for Nara Lokesh.

Alternatively, if Naidu chooses Bheemili as the constituency for his son, political pundits predict that HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao may have to contest from Visakhapatnam North.

Nara Lokesh, who has been an active member with TDP since 2009, was inducted into the state cabinet in February 2017, after the TDP politburo proposed his name for nomination to the state legislative council.

Naidu interacted with the party’s leaders in Amaravati on Friday to take a call on the candidates from the district. The TDP supremo has given a nod to persist with the sitting MLAs from the  Assembly constituencies of Visakhapatnam (West, South, East), Gajuwaka and Pendurthi. TDP will be fielding the sitting MLAs from the constituencies of Narsipatnam and Yelamanchili too.

Here are the candidates who have been finalised from a few constituencies in the district:

Visakhapatnam West- PGVR Naidu

Visakhapatnam South- Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar

Visakhapatnam East- Ramakrishna Babu Velagapudi

Pendurthi- Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy

Gajuwaka- Palla Srinivasa Rao

Narsipatnam- Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu

Yelamanchili- Panchakarla Ramesh Babu

Source: Eenadu