Rajamahendravaram: Intense competition between Purandeswari, Veerraju for BJP ticket

Rajamahendravaram : There is intense competition for the Rajahmundry Lok Sabha seat between the present BJP State president D Purandeswari and the former State chief Somu Veerraju.

The BJP which is yet to firm up the alliance with TDP and Jana Sena combine has already started putting up flexes and banners with the photos of aspirants giving an impression as if the party has announced the candidates.

This despite the party State president making it clear that the national party leadership in New Delhi would take a final decision on alliances and it is they who have to decide on the list of candidates. That would be decided only after the alliance issue is settled.

This being the official position, it is surprising to see Somu Veerraju launching his campaign in Rajahmundry. A few weeks ago, Veerraju inaugurated the Parliament election office with much fanfare. Election campaign posters were spread across the district.

He is touring the constituency in the name of Praja Poru Yatra while his supporters claim that he would be the candidate for Lok Sabha election. In fact the BJP circles are of the view that while Purandeswari would be the party candidate for Rajahmundry LS constituency, GVL Narasimha Rao will be the candidate for Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat.

Senior BJP leaders say that it would be pre-mature to make any claims about the candidature of Somu Veeraraju as they are a national party and all decisions have to be taken by the Central leadership. He had contested for the State Assembly during 2014 but lost the polls. He polled only over 7,000 votes.

Moreover, there are clear indications that the BJP is inclined towards having an alliance with TDP-Jana Sena. The JSP chief Pawan Kalyan himself two days back stated that it was a tough job to convince them about the alliance and stated that soon he would be going to New Delhi.

The TDP has also said that even their national president N Chandrababu Naidu would also go to the national capital and the seat sharing could be finalised. The expectations are that before the end of the month the scenario would become clear.