Vijayawada: Nuzvid to witness triangular contest

Vijayawada : As expected triangular contest is inevitable in Nuzvid Assembly constituency of Eluru district as the TDP rebel candidate Muddaraboina Venkateswara Rao has firmly decided to contest and filed the nomination for the Assembly polls.

Muddaraboina, former TDP leader and former MLA, was the main aspirant from the TDP for Nuzvid constituency.

But, the TDP leadership has opted for Kolusu Parthasarathy, sitting Penamaluru MLA. He had earlier quit the YSRCP and joined the TDP in the presence of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

Parthasarathy has recently inaugurated the TDP election office in Nuzvid and has been campaigning along with the party cadre for the ensuing polls. The YSRCP has fielded the sitting MLA Meka Venkata Pratap Apparao.

The YSRCP, TDP and Jana Sena Parties have denied tickets to many aspirants in the 2024 Assembly elections in erstwhile Krishna district. Majority aspirants staged a protest initially and later obeyed the orders of their respective party heads.

Even former minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao was also denied ticket in Mylavaram constituency. Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu too could not get ticket from the YSRCP. Initially, he protested but later started obeying the orders of party president and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Nuzvid TDP leader and former MLA Muddaraboina Venkateswara Rao was disappointed with the decision of the TDP leadership and finally decided to fight without support of any political party and filed nomination as an Independent candidate.

The defiant leader did not stop campaign even after the TDP announced the name of Kolusu Parthasarathy a month ago. He has been maintaining strong relationship with the voters of Nuzvid for over a decade. He contested as TDP candidate and lost in the 2019 elections

Both Parthasarathy and Venkateswara Rao belong to Yadava caste. Yadava voters are in sizeable numbers in Nuzvid Assembly constituency.

Yadava voters are more than 50,000 in Nuzvid Assembly constituency. Kapu, Dalit and other backward classes are in sizeable numbers.

Meka Venkata Pratap Apparao, the Velama leader, won three times from Nuzvid and has been contesting again looking for a fourth victory. All three leaders are campaigning in the constituency and trying to woo the voters.

Almost all Assembly constituencies in erstwhile Krishna district are witnessing a direct fight between the YSRCP and NDA alliance candidates. Nuzvid is perhaps the only segment where triangular contest is expected and the voters will their verdict on May 13.