Guntur TDP leaders vying for Cabinet berths
Speculations about Cabinet expansion after Ugadi have raised hopes among TDP leaders. All the aspirants are working out strategies and are intensifying lobbying to be in the good books of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Guntur: Speculations about Cabinet expansion after Ugadi have raised hopes among TDP leaders. All the aspirants are working out strategies and are intensifying lobbying to be in the good books of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. This competition is fierce among MLAs who represented their constituencies in the Assembly multiple times.
- MLAs from district intensify lobbying with party leadership to secure coveted positions
- Dhulipalla Narendra, Alapati Rajendra Prasad, Yarapathineni Srinivas among several others are trying their luck
The ruling TDP has 12 MLAs out of total of 17 in the district. Of them two are already in the Cabinet. With the possibility of six more being inducted into the Cabinet, leaders are making all out effort to secure coveted position. Dhulipalla Narendra is one of the top most aspirants. His strong point is that he had never faced defeat even when the party fared poorly in the State.
He had won five times in a row and has been a powerful orator in the Assembly, particularly on matters pertaining to agriculture and irrigation. Another aspirant Alapati Rajendra Prasad who is representing Tenali is also a senior leader and worked as a minister in the past. Among others who are in the race are Yarapathineni Srinivas, a third time MLA. He is said to be instrumental in luring YSRCP legislators.
Leaders like Kommalipati Sridhar representing Pedakurapadu and GV Anjaneyulu of Vinukonda are also trying their luck. Both leaders are second timers and have earned their place in the party as well as in the district politics. The major obstacle for all these leaders is the social engineering. All of them belong to Kamma community.
To accommodate any one of them, the Chief Minister perhaps have to drop Agriculture Minister Pattipati Pullarao who is also from the same community. Political circles here speculate that Social Welfare Minister Ravela Kishore Babu may be dropped in the reshuffle. TDP sources say that the Chief Minister is not very happy with the performance of the Minister and the recent controversy of his son harassing a lady teacher has also gone against him.
Nakka Anand Babu, who is also Dalit leader, is keenly watching whether or not Ravela would be dropped. Another MLA Tenali Sravan Kumar is also trying hard with the support of MP Galla Jayadev to replace Ravela in case the Chief Minister decides so. Sravan Kumar who represents Tadikonda constituency in which most of the capital region falls played a crucial role in making the land pooling scheme a success.
Another strong contender is Modugula Venu Gopal Reddy who represents Guntur West. Modugula was an MP when the State was bifurcated. He opposed the bifurcation and fought tooth and nail for united Andhra.
