Botcha Satyanarayana nomination upsets some YSRCP leaders

Visakhapatnam : Giving a shock to the YSRCP leaders in Visakhapatnam, YSRCP supremo and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to field Botcha Satyanarayana as the party’s nominee for the ensuing MLC by-poll for the local bodies.

Those who pinned hopes on the MLC post so far have now been disappointed with the announcement of Botcha Satyanarayana’s name.

Being the senior leader of North Andhra and his ability to put up a strong fight against the alliance government have probably led the YSRCP supremo to zero in on him for the MLC post.

Despite battling in the 2024 polls, both Botcha Satyanarayana and his wife Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi lost in the elections contesting from Cheepurupalli as an MLA and YSRCP Lok Sabha MP from Visakhapatnam respectively.

As not many came forward to contest against alliance MP candidate M Sribharat in Visakhapatnam, following the directions of the YSRCP chief, Botcha Satyanarayana volunteered to field his wife as an opponent. However, even as the MP candidate spent crores of rupees for the elections, it did not give desired results as expected.

Meanwhile, an army of YSRCP leaders vied for the MLC post in Visakhapatnam. Among others, former IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath, YSRCP district president Kola Guruvulu and former MP MVV Satyanarayana, were in the race. The party high command, however, zeroed in on the candidate belonging to the neighbouring district.

Earlier, Ch Vamsi Krishna Srinivas Yadav was elected as an MLC from the YSRCP. After switching loyalties to the JSP, he was disqualified by the council chairman. As Jana Sena candidate, he was elected as MLA of Visakhapatnam south constituency in the 2024 polls.

The Election Commission of India released the schedule for the conduct of by-poll for the MLC from Visakhapatnam local bodies. The election notification would be issued on August 6, while August 13 is the last date for filing nominations. The MLC bypoll is slated for August 30.