BCs, Balijas get a raw deal in TDP list for Chittor district

Tirupati : After releasing the complete list of TDP candidates in Chittoor district for the Assembly elections 2024, the party plunged into campaign mode with renewed vigour. Clearing all ambiguity over the list of candidates, TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu announced all the 13 names in the erstwhile Chittoor district while the remaining one seat was allotted to Jana Sena.

Meanwhile, the party has shown empty hands this time to both BCs and Balija community which is dominant in Rayalaseema, particularly in Chittoor district. Notably, out of 13 candidates, TDP has chosen four from Kamma community – N Chandrababu Naidu (Kuppam), G Jagan Mohan (Chittoor), Gali Bhanu Prakash (Nagari) and Pulivarthi Nani (Chandragiri).

Surprisingly, it has given five seats to Reddy community by naming N Amaranatha Reddy (Palamaner), N Kishore Kumar Reddy (Piler), Challa Babu (Punganur), D Jayachandra Reddy (Thamballapalle) and B Sudheer Reddy (Srikalahasti).

From the three reserved constituencies, the party is fielding sitting YSRCP MLA Koneti Adimulam (Satyavedu), K Murali Mohan (Puthalapattu) and Dr VM Thomas (GD Nellore) while it has given Madanapalle seat to Muslim by choosing former MLA M Shajahan Basha.

Though TDP’s alliance partner Jana Sena Party is fielding sitting Chittoor MLA Arani Srinivasulu of Balija community from Tirupati constituency, TDP has not allocated any seats directly to Balijas or BCs. It has not allocated any seat to women from the district whereas in all likelihood YSRCP may give two tickets to women, R K Roja (Nagari) and K Krupa Lakshmi (GD Nellore). It may be recalled here that in the 2019 elections, TDP fielded three women candidates from Assembly constituencies and two more for Lok Sabha but all were defeated.

In fact, TDP cadres believe that Naidu takes all precautions to give representation to various communities meticulously. However, it appeared that this time he has focused more on the winning horses rather than looking at the caste equations.

In Thamballapalle, former MLA G Shankar Yadav expected a ticket but could not get it. BC leaders eyed Chandragiri also where the party preferred Kamma candidate.

Though the party activists are expressing their complete satisfaction over the selection of candidates in all 13 constituencies, it has to be seen how they will address the discontent if any among the people during the campaigning as the party is leaving no stone unturned to win maximum number of seats in the district.