7 new faces for Assembly polls in erstwhile Krishna district

Vijayawada: As the mainstream political parties decided to play safe game and avoid risk of facing defeat in the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the young leaders and aspirants are getting lesser chances to contest the polls and check their luck in the erstwhile Krishna district.

The YSRCP and the TDP have appointed sitting MLAs, former MLAs, former ministers as the in-charges and coordinators in majority constituencies in the erstwhile Krishna district.

Till now, only seven new faces have been announced while there are total 16 Assembly constituencies in Krishna district. New contestants may be fielded from Vijayawada West, Pedana, Pamarru, Gudivada, Mylavaram, Machilipatnam and Avanigadda. Among them some of the contestants belong to the family of political leaders.

The YSRCP has appointed Perni Krishna Murthy alias Perni Kittu as the in-charge of Machilipatnam constituency. Sitting MLA and former minister Perni Nani decided not to contest the elections in 2024 and asked the party leadership to give an opportunity to his son to contest the elections.

The YSRCP leadership has consented to give the chance. Perni Kittu may face TDP candidate and former minister Kollu Ravindra in Machilipatnam.

Another new candidate is Varla Kumara Raja, son of Varla Ramaiah, TDP politburo member. Kumara Raja has been appointed as the coordinator of the TDP Pamarru constituency. He has already launched the campaign in Pamarru to win the poll battle. Varla Ramaiah earlier contested the Assembly election and was defeated.

Shaik Asif has been appointed as the in-charge of YSRCP Vijayawada West constituency. He is the chairman of the Minority Finance Corporation and former VMC corporator. Shaik Asif is contesting for the first time and launched the election campaign in the constituency.

S Tirumala Yadav, another first timer is likely to contest the Assembly polls from Mylavaram constituency. The YSRCP has appointed Tirumala Rao as the in-charge of Mylavaram Assembly constituency. Till now, sitting MLA Vasantha Krishna Prasad served as the in-charge.

Simhadri Chandrasekhara Rao is one more new candidate appointed as the in-charge of an Assembly constituency. The YSRCP has appointed Chandasekhara Rao as the in-charge of Avanigadda Assembly constituency. Chandrasekhara Rao recently met Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and requested the latter to appoint his son Simhadri Ram Charan as the in-charge of the Avanigadda constituency.

In Gudivada, the TDP has appointed Venigalla Ramu as the coordinator of the constituency. He is likely to contest the elections for the first time. The TDP leadership has almost finalised the candidature of Venigalla Ramu, an NRI. He has already launched the campaign.

Uppala Ramu is another first timer to contest the Assembly polls from erstwhile Krishna district. He may be fielded by the YSRCP from Pedana constituency. His father Uppala Ram Prasad passed away last year. Uppala Harika is the Krishna district ZP chairperson.

It is expected there will be direct fight between the YSRCP and the TDP-Jana Sena alliance in the district. If the BJP joins the alliance the fight will be between the YSRCP and the alliance of three parties the TDP, Jana Sena and BJP. The YSRCP is carefully choosing the candidates and releasing the list of in-charges in a phased manner. The TDP and Jana Sena are waiting for the response of the BJP to announce the names of the coordinators.