TDP banks on new faces for poll victory

Tirupati: The TDP announced all its Assembly and Parliamentary candidates by Monday itself and they were going for campaigning with enthusiasm after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's maiden election campaign in Tirupati.

The party has this time fielded only four sitting MLAs and changed three candidates. It has also given tickets to two former MLAs–D Ramesh and AS Manohar. The party leadership gives Madanapalle ticket to Ramesh and Chittoor to AS Manohar.

In all, the party has announced new candidates at seven constituencies and one candidate, who was defeated last time. Except, the four candidates whose names were announced on Monday night, all other candidates have already going to the people seeking their support. They have been explaining the party's welfare schemes and development activities to the public.

TDP has announced names of pending four candidates late on Monday night. As expected, the party has left out sitting MLA Talari Aditya at Satyavedu and given the ticket to a new candidate JD Rajasekhar.

Similarly, it has given ticket to another new candidate, a GST official working at Puttur, Terlam Poornam to contest from Puthalapattu where its candidate L Lalitha Kumari has lost the election in 2014 though she was earlier elected from Palamaner.

It has given GD Nellore ticket to former Minister and Deputy Speaker G Kuthuhalamma's son Harikrishna this time. In 2014, Kuthuhalamma was defeated by YSRCP's K Narayana Swamy.

After much suspense, sitting Thamballapalle MLA G Shankar Yadav has got the ticket for a second term after he pressurised the high command with his followers. Already, TDP has given Srikalahasti ticket to B Sudhir Reddy, son of sitting MLA and former Minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, who opted out of the fray due to his ill-health. It has also decided to field the sitting Chittoor MLA DK Satyaprabha as its Parliamentary candidate from Rajampet constituency and given the Chittoor ticket to former TDP MLA AS Manohar.

In Madanapalle also, former MLA Dommalapati Ramesh was given ticket and party district President Pulivarthy Nani named as its Chandragiri candidate, who is contesting for the first time. In Nagari, this time party finalised the candidature of Gali Bhanuprakash. son of former Minister G Muddukrishnama Naidu.

Muddukrishnama was defeated in 2014 by YSRCP's RK Roja. TDP has also choose a new face N Aneesha Reddy, wife of Minister N Amaranatha Reddy's brother for Punganur seat. In Piler, the party has chosen Nallari Kishorekumar Reddy, the brother of former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. Kishore has contested the 2014 election on Jai Samaikyandhra Party and was defeated by YSRCPs C Ramachandra Reddy.

Four candidates–N Chandrababu Naidu (Kuppam), N Amaranatha Reddy (Palamaner), G Shankar Yadav (Thamballapalle) and M Suguna (Tirupati) have been contesting again. Chandrababu has so far won six times from Kuppam continuously and once from Chandragiri in 1978. He lost there in 1983 and shifted to Kuppam in 1989.

Needless to say that Amaranatha Reddy has won on YSRCP ticket in 2014 and later switched loyalties to TDP and became the Minister for Industries. In 2009, he won on TDP ticket from the same constituency and won twice from Punganur also.

Though M Venkataramana has won on TDP ticket from Tirupati in 2014 after his death in 2015, his wife M Suguna has won the seat in by-election. This will be the third election for Shankar Yadav, and he has earlier won on TDP ticket and lost in his first attempt as Congress candidate.

Among the three Parliamentary candidates, only DK Satyaprabha has been contesting for the first time for Lok Sabha. The other two–Dr N Siva Prasad from Chittoor and Panabaka Lakshmi from Tirupati were experienced candidates.

Siva Prasad has been contesting for the third time as MP candidate. Though Panabaka Lakshmi will be a new face from Tirupati Parliamentary seat, she has earlier won as MP from Nellore thrice and from Bapatla once and has also served as Union Minister of State. She has recently joined in TDP and got Tirupati ticket.