TDP finalises 10 MLA candidates

Anantapur: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu has cleared the names of 9 sitting MLAs and MLC Payyavula Keshav, who unsuccessfully contested against YSRCP candidate Visweswara Reddy in Uravakonda constituency in 2014 elections.

Of the 14 Assembly segments and 2 MP seats, the party chief has finalised candidates for 10 Assembly segments and kept pending the candidate selection for 4 Assembly constituencies and one MP seat in the district.

The candidates cleared so far include N Balakrishna for Hindupur Assembly segment; Paritala Sunitha for Raptadu; B K Parthasaradhi for Penukonda; Gonuguntla Suryanarayana for Dharmavaram; Palle Raghunatha Reddy for Puttaparthi; Eranna for Madakasira; Kalava Srinivasulu for Rayadurgam; Prabhakar Choudhury for Anantapur; Payyavula Keshav for Uravakonda and Asmith Reddy for Tadipatri Assembly constituency.

Those yet undecided by the party president include Guntakal, Kadiri, Kalyandurgam and Singanamala Assembly segments, where there is some opposition to the sitting MLAs. For Hindupur Lok Sabha seat, Nimmala Kistappa has been re-nominated but the Chief Minister has kept in pending the nomination of Pawan Reddy as Chandrababu, it is learnt, is persuading sitting MP JC Diwakar Reddy to contest again. With this in mind, Naidu has not announced the candidate for Anantapur Lok Sabha seat.

On Kadiri seat, the TDP chief reportedly spoke to sitting MLA Chand Basha, who had defected to TDP from YSRCP. Party coordinator for Kadiri Kundikunta Venkata Prasad is also being considered as alternative to Basha and the Chief Minister had spoken to both of them separately. So is the case of Kalyandurgam sitting MLA Hanumantha Rai Choudhury and Singanamala MLA Yamini Bala and Guntakal MLA Jithendra Goud are facing opposition from within the party over their re-nomination. 

Chandrababu will take a decision on the pending candidates in a couple of days. The request of Paritala Sunitha to nominate his son Paritala Sriram either for Assembly or Parliament also has been kept pending. Sriram is eyeing for Kalyanadurgam constituency where sitting MLAs re-nomination is being opposed. Jubilant sitting MLAs, who are re-nominated have returned to their constituencies from party meeting to hold party workers meeting and discuss strategies for their victory.