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TG Venkatesh makes it to TDP RS list
The ruling Telugu Desam Party has cleared the name of sitting MP and Union minister Y S Chowdary for the Rajya Sabha elections from the state. The party has also cleared the name of former minister T G Venkatesh for the second seat leaving the third seat to Railways Minister and BJP leader Suresh Prabhu.
Vijayawada: The ruling Telugu Desam Party has cleared the name of sitting MP and Union minister Y S Chowdary for the Rajya Sabha elections from the state. The party has also cleared the name of former minister T G Venkatesh for the second seat leaving the third seat to Railways Minister and BJP leader Suresh Prabhu.
TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, who held day-long consultations with party leaders at his camp office on Monday, said that a lot of exercise had gone into the selection of the candidates and several aspects were taken into consideration before finalising the names.
Talking to media, he said, Y S Chowdary and Venkatesh have been in politics for several years and have also served the party. He justified the candidature of the two leaders, while pointing an accusing finger at the YSR Congress for fielding an accused in corruption cases.
Naidu said continuation of Y S Chowdary would help in getting more funds for the state. He also recalled the services of T G Venkatesh, who is highly experienced and committed leader. He said Venkatesh had highlighted the AP’s problems at the time of bifurcation and would take keen interest in the development of Rayalaseema.
Naidu said TDP and BJP candidates would file their nominations in Hyderabad on Tuesday. He said the party AP chief K Kalavenkata Rao, national general secretary N Lokesh, ministers and other leaders would accompany the candidates while filing the nominations.
Meanwhile, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had arrived in Hyderabad on Monday.
The BJP leaders from AP and Telangana and Minister for Health from AP Kamineni Srinivas received the minister, who is also scheduled to file his nomination on Tuesday along with the TDP candidates. Though the party leadership had favoured the name of J R Pushparaj on Sunday, the Chief Minister after a long talk with Pushparaj is learnt to have convinced him that his services would be duly recognized in a different way.
Speculations are that he may even be the fourth candidate. The Chief Minister, however, did not give any indication of fielding the fourth candidate. When asked, he said, “How can I reveal my strategy to you. We have strength to win three seats and I have announced three names.”
Party sources do not rule out the possibility of supporting an Independent candidate. After consulting the 17 legislators of the YSR Congress, who have defected to the party recently, the party had reportedly decided to back the candidature of YSR Congress former leader Vemreddy Prabhakar Reddy, who had come forward to fight the battle for the fourth seat.
Though the YSR Congress has more than enough strength to win the seat, the TDP and the defected legislators have claimed that they would fight for the fourth seat.
Prabhakar Reddy, a leading industrialist from Nellore district, had joined the YSR Congress in December 2013 and quit the party in April this year. Sources said that Prabhakar Reddy is the potential candidate to represent the 17 YSR Congress legislators and also attract more votes from the YSR Congress legislators, who are still with Jaganmohan Reddy.
Prabhakar Reddy is also in touch with some of the YSR Congress legislators, who are unhappy with the candidature of Vijayasai Reddy.
