Mekapati in race for MLC post

Nellore: Former Udayagiri MLA Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy is reportedly eyeing an MLC post.

However, there is competition within the TDP for the post and the party high command has almost finalized the name of Nellore Parliament president Shaik Abdul Aziz.

Four days ago during a press conference held at his residence at Marripadu, Mekapati said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has placed him in a comfortable position by officering a nominated post.

According to sources, TDP high command is contemplating to appoint Mekapati as the Chairman of Nellore District Cooperative Central Bank (NDCCB). At the time of joining the TDP, Mekapati assured party’s national president Chandrababu Naidu that he would work for the victory of the candidates contesting from Atmakuru and Udayagiri Assembly constituencies unconditionally.

Mekapati kept his promise as the TDP candidates Anam Ramanarayana Reddy (Atmakuru) and Kakarla Suresh (Udayagiri) got elected with the support extended by him in the recent Assembly elections.

It would have been a challenging task for TDP candidates in Atmakuru and Udayagiri constituencies to register victory without the support of Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy. In the 2024 State Assembly polls, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy defeated Mekapati Vikram Reddy in Atmakuru and Kakarla Suresh defeated Mekapati Rajagopala Reddy. Meanwhile, former Udayagiri TDP MLA Bollineni Venkatarama Rao is also in the race for nominated post and he is expecting a high position in the government.

Bollineni who represented Udayagiri constituency as MLA in 2019, sacrificed the Assembly ticket in the recent Assembly polls following the request of TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu and subsequently, the ticket was allocated to upcoming politician

Kakarla Suresh.

It may be recalled that senior politician Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy has registered victory in Udayagiri constituency total 4 times - twice on Congress ticket (2004 and 2009) twice on YSR Congress ticket (2012 by-election and 2019). However as differences cropped up with the YSRCP top leadership, Chandrasekhar Reddy was ignored and his brother Rajagopala Reddy was appointed as party in-charge for Udayagiri Assembly constituency. Subsequently, Chandrasekhar Reddy left the YSRCP and joined the TDP, though the YSRCP president Y S Jagan offered him an MLC post.

During a recent media conference, Chandrasekhar Reddy said that he did not exert pressure on the TDP high command to provide him any particular post. But he hoped that the Chief Minister and TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu would recognise the efforts put in by him to ensure the victory of party candidates in Atmakuru and Udayagiri constituencies in the Assembly polls.