Seat-sharing triggers dissidence in TDP

In a déjà vu moment, the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance has resurfaced for the Andhra Pradesh 2024 elections. As this trio collaborates once more in pursuit of electoral victory, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) finds itself entangled in an uneasy predicament regarding seat-sharing arrangements.

Allotment of seats to allies as a part of seat-sharing has resulted in dissidence in the TDP, in some Assembly segments of Visakhapatnam and Anakapalle districts.

With the Jana Sena Party (JSP) announcing candidates for Visakhapatnam South (Vizag district), Pendurthi and Yellamanchili (Anakapalle district), aspirants for the same seats in the TDP are in a state of despair, and their supporters are taking to streets in protest.

Telugu Desam in-charge for the Visakhapatnam South, Gandi Babji, resigned from the party strongly protesting against the allotment of the seat to the JSP, He is said to be in touch with both YSRCP and Congress, even as the TDP is trying to pacify him.

Entering politics by joining the Congress party, Babji contested as an MLA from Paravada in 2004 and won the seat. He, however, lost the next two elections. While he was the Congress candidate from Pendurthi in the 2009 elections, he contested the seat on the YSRCP ticket in the 2014 elections. He later joined the TDP and won as the corporator in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections. Babji was made the in-charge for Visakha South and was confident of getting the party ticket. However, in the changed equations, the party allotted the seat to the JSP, giving a jolt to Babji.

Similar is the case with TDP Senior Leader, Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, who was sure of getting the party ticket to contest from the Pendurthi Assembly constituency. However, the allotment of the seat to JSP has come as a bolt out of the blue for him. Raising a banner of revolt, his supporters took out a huge rally on Sunday demanding a ticket for their leader.

A staunch supporter of the TDP for long, Satyanarayana Murthy was an MLA for four times, representing Paravada and Pendurthi Assembly Constituencies. He was the MLA during the periods between 1989-2004, and 2014-2019. This time around, he was neither given a ticket for Pendurthi nor accommodated anywhere else to date, making his supporters up the ante.

In Yellamanchili too, the TDP cadre was left to be a disappointed lot after the seat was allotted to the JSP candidates.

The fate of another senior TDP leader, Ganta Srinivasa Rao still hangs in the balance as the Visakha North Constituency, which is being represented by him at present, has almost been allotted to the BJP. The BJP candidate, P Vishnukumar Raju already gets into campaign mode in the constituency.

It is learnt the party’s high command wants him to contest from Cheeputupalli, for which he is not ready as the YSRCP strongman and Minister, Botcha Satyanarayana is in the race in the constituency. Ganta Srinivasa Rao is reportedly insisting on the Bheemili seat which is being represented by Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao of the YSRCP. Panchakarla Sandeep of the JSP is also eying the seat.

As the seat-sharing between BJP, TDP, and JSP, in view of their alliance, runs into rough weather in several constituencies, the Telugu Desam Party seems to be in jitters and has initiated damage control to set things right before D-Day approaches.

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This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu