Chandrababu Naidu to contest from Tirupati?

Tirupati: Will Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu contest from a new constituency in 2019 elections leaving his lucky Kuppam to his son Lokesh?

The news that is going viral in social media gives an impression that Naidu was seriously considering the idea of asking Lokesh to contest from Kuppam as it is the safest seat in the entire state for the TDP.

In that case, Naidu has to look for another seat for his contest and it could be Tirupati Assembly seat which is now being represented by TDP's M Suguna.

Though there is speculation for a long time that Naidu may shift from Kuppam to make room for Lokesh, there were no clear indications from where he himself would contest. There were opinions that he may contest from Godavari districts or Krishna district while some others even guessed that he may go to Kurnool district.

Party leaders say that they have reason to believe that Naidu would say goodbye to Kuppam. However, those who purvey the news that he will be moving to Tirupati argue that it will do a whale of a time for the party.

Besides, as Chief Minister he can put all efforts to come out with a good majority and his candidature in Tirupati may send positive and morale-boosting signals to the neighbouring constituencies – Chandragiri, Nagari, Satyavedu and Srikalahasti where new candidates are expected to be fielded this time.

Of them, Chandragiri and Nagari are being represented by YSRCP's Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy and RK Roja, respectively. As Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu who was defeated in Nagari last time is no more, a new candidate must enter the fray and departed leader’s elder son Gali Bhanuprakash was made the party in charge for the segment indicating that he would get the party's anointment.

In Chandragiri, four-time MLA Galla Aruna Kumari lost the election in 2014 and is reluctant to contest again in 2019. Party district president Pulivarthy Nani has been made in charge of the constituency. 

Similarly, in Srikalahasti, former minister and present MLA Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy’s son Sudheer Reddy’s name is said to be under consideration for candidature in view of the ill health of his father. There was a view that party's sitting MLA Talari Aditya may have to move on to make way for a new candidate.

In this backdrop, if Naidu enters the fray from Tirupati the entire party cadre will fight with renewed vigour and party candidates will have winning chances. On the other hand, Chandrababu Naidu was more connected with Tirupati as he pursued his education from this temple city. 

Whenever he gets an opportunity, he used to present his vision for developing Tirupati. Time and again, he has been waxing nostalgic on his association with the city and was saying that he was developing the city out of passion. He has been constantly monitoring the development works in the city and giving directions to the district officials.

Going by speculation, if Naidu contests from Tirupati, the city will have the third VIP contestant after NT Rama Rao and K Chiranjeevi. They both have contested as party presidents and NTR became CM after winning from here while Chiranjeevi has to sit in the Opposition till he merged his party with the Congress and later became Union Minister.

In the case of Naidu, he may contest as Chief Minister apart from party president. Also, after moving to Kuppam in 1989 after losing elections in Chandragiri in 1983 it has become a home constituency for him.