Minister eyes Tirupati in the next polls

Tirupati: Minister Narayana is keen on contesting from Tirupati constituency in the next elections. Narayana, a native of Nellore, has been getting close to local TDP leaders so that they may not oppose him. According to TDP sources, the high command is not interested to give ticket to present MLA Suguna, who is wife of former MLA M Venkataramana.

• Narayana making frequent official visits to the temple city
• Minister not keen to contest from Nellore district as Reddy vote bank is strong 
• Being Balija, Narayana is optimistic of 45,000 voters of Balija community from 1.2 lakh will vote for him

It is learnt that Narayana had expressed his willingness to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of contesting from Tirupati. The Minister’s followers say Chandrababu has responded favourably. Narayana has been facing criticism from the opposition that he became the Minister without contesting the elections. The party nominated him as MLC. He wants to prove his detractors that they were wrong.

The TDP sources said that Narayana is not interested to contest from his native district as the Reddy vote bank is the deciding factor in every Assembly constituency. The followers of Minister say that there are 45,000 Balija community votes from the total of 1.2 lakh in Tirupati segment. As Narayana belongs to Balija community, he is expecting all the Balija voters will exercise their franchise in his favour.

Another favourable factor is non-locals like former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao and former Union Minister Chiranjeevi were elected as MLAs from Tirupati. Narayana reportedly feels that his winning chances as MLA are more as Tirupati voters had supported non-locals in the past. To get close to the TDP leaders and city residents, the Minister has been visiting Tirupati frequently and participating in various developmental activities. 

He is closely monitoring the smarty city works of Tirupati Municipal Corporation. Recently, Narayana had attended the Balija Atmiya Sabha here along with co-father-in-law and Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao. When he is not in Tirupati, Narayana keep in touch with local TDP leaders and knows about the city developments. The Minister willingness to contest from Tirupati constituency has become a hot topic in political circles.

By K Nethaji