Naidu to field Harikrishna’s daughter from Kukatpally

​Hyderabad: In a bid to project that NTR’s family is on his side, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has finalised departed TDP leader N Harikrishna’s daughter Suhasini’s name as his party’s candidate from Kukatpally Assembly constituency in the ensuing Telangana Assembly elections.

Suhasini called on Naidu in Visakhapatnam on Thursday and the latter informed her the TDP’s decision to field her as Telugu Desam candidate from the Seemandhra people dominated assembly segment in Greater Hyderabad limits. 

The relations between Naidu and Harikrishna strained after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh as NTR’s son had been staying away from the party activities till his untimely death recently. The speculations are already doing rounds in the political circles that Harikrishna’s son and actor Junior NTR is the heir apparent of the NTR family in the future and also likely to take over the TDP cudgels after Naidu’s era ends.

To check the prospects of junior NTR’s political growth, the TDP chief reportedly decided to promote the former’s sister in the party even before the film actor plunged into politics. Leaders said that Chandrababu’s move to promote Suhasini is also an attempt to isolate NTR’s daughter Daggubati Purandeshwari, who is trying hard to emerge as a strong leader on behalf of the NTR family, in the Andhra politics ahead of the assembly elections in 2019. Sources said that Suhasini will also play a key role in the TDP Telangana unit if elected MLA in the Assembly elections.