Kurukonda may get TDP ticket from Venkatagiri

Nellore: Taking advantage of the quitting of Venkatagiri YSRCP MLA Anam Ramanarayana Reddy from the party, Telugu Desam Party almost came to conclusion to field Kurukonda Ramakrishna in Venkatagiri Assembly seat in 2024 elections.

It may be recalled that TDP senior leader Kurukonda Ramakrishna, who belongs to Kamma community and hailing from Balayapalle mandal, was elected twice in 2009 and 2014 with the support of his community in Dakkali, Balayapalle mandals and also with the help of Venkatagiri Rajas. But he was defeated by YSRCP nominee Anam Ramanarayana Reddy in 2019 elections.

Sympathy for YS Rajasekhara Reddy family coupled with the merger of Rapuru Assembly segment in Venkatagiri constituency made it easy for Ramanarayana Reddy to win three times and to defeat TDP nominee in 2019 elections.

But now political situation in Venkatagiri constituency was totally changed after Ramanarayana Reddy getting closer to TDP. The YSRCP has decided to give the ticket to N Ramkumar Reddy, the son of former Chief Minister Nedurumalli Janardhan Reedy, from Venkatagiri in 2024 elections.

Lack of proper leadership in the YSRCP in Venkatagiri constituency after Ramanarayana Reddy quit the party seen to be a boon for TDP nominee Kurukonda Ramakrishna in the 2024 elections.

YSRCP nominee Nedurumalli Ramkumar Reddy had contested from Venkatagiri constituency on Congress ticket and got only 5,375 votes in 2014 elections. Even today, he is facing the same situation of lack of proper leadership and own cadre like his father in the constituency and he is totally depending on the party support in 2024 elections.

The ground reality is that the ruling party is still not sure it would be an easy victory due to anti-incumbency factor in this constituency.

After noticing the ground reality by holding a series of meetings with different sections of people during his two-day Yuva Galam padayatra, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh decided to recommend the candidature of Kurukonda Ramakrishna from Venkatagiri constituency.

During a recent media conference, Ramakrishna claimed that he is going to contest the election from Venkatagiri Assembly constituency on TDP ticket in 2024 elections as TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu had already finalised his candidature.