Dharmavaram: A mastermind that played a spoilsport for TDP rivals

Dharmavaram (Sri Sathya Sai district) : When two powerful TDP leaders were fighting to contest from the same constituency, a third man from nowhere hijacked the seat much to the shock of one of the two.

The two powerful leaders were Varadapuram Suri and Paritala Sriram. It was Suri who was more shocked than Sriram at the hijacking of Dharmavaram seat by an outsider.

Suri was once a close aide of the late Paritala Ravindra. After the assassination of Ravindra, Suri parted ways with the Paritala family, unable to fit into the new coterie surrounding the late Paritala’s wife Sunitha. There is an undeclared enmity and cold war between Suri and Sunitha.

In 2019 elections, Varadapuram Suri lost to Kethi Reddy of YSRCP and in a bid to protect his business interests, he reportedly with the express permission of party national president Chandrababu Naidu joined the BJP, with an understanding that he would return to the party before elections.

Meanwhile, to fill the Dharmavaram vacancy caused by Suri's resignation to the party, in a dramatic move, Paritala Sunitha displayed her presence of mind and political acumen by engineering the appointment of her son Paritala Sriram as party in-charge for Dharmavaram, using her proximity with Naidu.

For four years Sriram nurtured the constituency with a dream of becoming Dharmavaram MLA and to indirectly display the Paritala supremacy over Dharmavaram and thereby settle political scores with Suri. As 2024 elections advanced, Sunitha and Suri began to pull strings to confirm Dharmavaram seat to their candidacy. Suri was double confident of getting the Dharmavaram seat as either TDP candidate or as BJP candidate in case as part of alliance obligation, the seat was left to BJP.

If the seat remained with TDP, Chandrababu will be in a fix as he can neither say no to both of them.

So to prevent an ugly situation, the TDP national president reportedly masterminded the seat transfer to BJP. By doing so he retained Paritala Sriram as Dharmavaram party in-charge to checkmate the popularity of Varadapuram Suri. Naidu with one shot injured two birds leaving them incapable of contesting, with the express knowledge that something was cooking against Suri at the highest level in the BJP national party.

Suri was jubilant at the news that Dharmavaram came into BJP kitty and he was highly confident that he would be the natural choice of the party and thought that he would after all have the last laugh.

But misfortune struck Suri and he was unaware of the unfolding development within his own party at the highest level.

To his utter shock, Sathya Kumar Yadav, BJP national general secretary and party in-charge of UP state and Andaman and Lakshadweep islands descended into the tiny textile town to contest from the Dharmavaram constituency for BJP. Rumours suggest that the former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu delivered the Dharmavaram BJP ticket to Sathya Kumar on a golden platter.

According to sources, Sathya Kumar served as personal assistant to Venkaiah Naidu. Fortune catapulted him to national heights giving him opportunities to occupy prestigious positions in the party.

Doubts linger in political and people's minds as to why Sathya Kumar chose to contest election to AP Assembly when already he was flying high. Political observers too are unable to digest the depths of Kumar's decision.

With Sathya Kumar filing his nomination on Tuesday and all hopes for last minute anticipated changes in Suri camp faded, Suri is now coming to grips with the party decision and reconcile to supporting Sathya Kumar's candidature and to not send wrong signals to the party high command. But what is bothering him is Paritala Sriram remaining as the TDP party in-charge and becoming the right hand man of Sathya Kumar.

So a Damocles sword is hanging on his neck with Sriram operating right under his nose, feels Suri. So Suri is compelled to operate in a piquant and embarrassing situation. He reportedly told his followers to fall in line and support the BJP candidate in the best interests of the party. Sources say that Suri will soon express his support and campaign for his party candidate.