TDP decides to field 2 candidates

Amaravati: Ending days of suspense, Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday cleared the names of sitting Rajya Sabha member CM Ramesh and High Court advocate and party legal cell president Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, as party’s nominees for two of the three Rajya Sabha seats it can win, nominations for which will close on Monday.

The Chief Minister also decided not to field third candidate though it might not be difficult for the TDP to manipulate a few more votes from the Opposition camp to corner the third seat too. This is probably because Naidu may have thought that the Opposition would raise hell, painting him as a leader with no faith in principles of democracy.

Ravindra Kumar, a native of Vijayawada and a practising advocate in High Court for 35 years, has been TDP’s legal cell president and appeared in several cases relating to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Ministers, MLAs, party workers and Telugu Desam Party.    

TDP leaders said Chief Minister preferred Kanakamedal in the last minute which has disappointed other aspirants, including TDP senior leaders Varla Ramaiah, Beeda Mastan Rao, Jupudi Prabhakar and M Padmaja. Party sources said Naidu decided on Ravindra since his legal brain might help the party as it mounts pressure on the Centre for fulfilling its commitments to the state. 

The party, by deciding to re-nominate Ramesh has given representation to Rayalaseema as he belongs to Kadapa district. He was elected to the Upper House for the first time in 2012. Speaking to reporters, Ravindra Kumar said the Chief Minister may have chosen him after taking into consideration his legal background. 

“The Chief Minister suggested that I should focus on legal issues related to AP Reorganisation Act and put forth a cohesive argument before the Centre for getting what is due to the state. If the party wants, I’m ready to go in for a legal fight with the Centre,” he said.

Though the candidature of CM Ramesh, who is a close associate of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, was opposed by some Kadapa TDP leaders, the Chief Minister reportedly decided to let him have another term as his services are essential for him in check-mating YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Rayalaseema region.

YSR Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy filed his nomination on March 7. Both the TDP candidates will file their nominations on Monday.