Tirupati: The news that has been going viral on various social media platforms for many days gives the indication that TD chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu will contest from Tirupati segment in the next general elections. According to the viral news, Mr Naidu is leaving his lucky Assembly segment, Kuppam, to his son Nara Lokesh to contest and have an easy win as it is the most secure seat in the whole state for the TD.
Though there has been speculation for a long time that Mr Naidu may shift from Kuppam to give a sure seat to Mr Lokesh, there were no clear indications from where Mr Naidu himself would contest. Some party leaders opined that he might contest from any one of the Assembly segment in the districts of Godavari or Krishna, while some others hinted that he might raise the flag in Kurnool district. Based on hints given by the top cadre of the party, they also strongly believe that Mr Naidu would bid farewell to Kuppam and move to Tirupati. Besides, it is also believed that, as Chief Minister, Mr Naidu can put in all the efforts to win the contest from Tirupati with a good majority and that will further send positive vibes to the neighbouring constituencies such as Chandragiri, Nagari, Satyavedu and Srikalahasti, where the TD is going to field new candidates in the next polls.
Mr Naidu is also closely connected with the district, especially with Tirupati, as he pursued his graduation from SV University here. Meanwhile, in the past one year, whenever Mr Naidu visited this segment, he spoke about his vision for developing Tirupati as an educational and industrial hub. He also started transforming it into a cleaner and more eco-friendly city with various projects such as Haritha Vanam, beautification of lakes in and around the city and developing greenery by setting up ecological parks. In his recent meetings, Mr Naidu has repeatedly spoken about his association with the city and said on several occasions that he was developing the city out of passion. According to sources in the party, Mr Naidu has been closely monitoring the development works and implementation of smart city projects in Tirupati and has been directing the officials on this.
If the news that is being aired is for real, Mr Naidu is likely to face a tough fight from the opposition parties, as the leaders of the YSRC, Congress and BJP have made much impression on the public by circulating the alleged irregularities of the TD leaders and succeeded in damaging TD’s name in the entire district. BJP leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy and Congress leader P. Naveen Kumar Reddy have been aggressively highlighting the alleged irregularities of the TD leaders.
TD begins game plan to regain lost seats in Chittoor district
With elections fast approaching and considering that Chittoor is a stronghold of the YSRC, with the party winning a decent number of seats in the district, the TD has started its game plan to regain the seats it lost in the 2014 elections. In the previous polls, the TD secured 6 seats out of the 14 Assembly segments in the district while the YSRC won a majority share with 8 seats. However, the scores were levelled, when Palamaneru legislator N. Amarnath Reddy, who won the contest on the YSRC flag, later shifted to the TD.
In this regard, the TD succeeded in the past by luring Amarnath Reddy and other prominent leaders of the YSRC.
Now the TD has put a pause on the process of luring opposition leaders and started concentrating on the seven Assembly segments of Nagari, Chandragiri, Madan-apalle, Puthalapattu, Punganur, Piler and Gangadhar Nellore, which are reportedly strongholds of YSRC leaders.
