TDP may not exactly be the darling of voters right for some time now, but its chief Chandrababu Naidu cannot be accused of lacking in political acumen. Whatever be the odds, the indefatigable Naidu continues with his ‘forward planning’.
Even while the ruling Congress is still mulling over axing its MLAs who chose to side with Jagan at the crucial moment, Naidu is already finalizing his candidates for the imminent by-polls.
As many as 25 constituencies are expected to go for elections, if Congress opts for disqualification of 16 of its MLAs, along one with one Independent Associate and another PRP MLA. Already, 7 seats are vacant in the Assembly.
Of these, six are in Telangana region, where TDP is facing the toughest of its political battles in recent times. The names of the candidates presently doing the rounds are Dharma Reddy (Parakala), Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), E Peddireddy (Ramagundam), P Chandra Sekhar (Mahbubnagar), Jagadeeshwara Rao/Harshavardhan Reddy (Kollapur), Poona Rajeshwar/Mettu Venugopal (Kamareddy) and Payal Shankar (Adilabad).
The party is searching for a candidate in Nagarkurnool to pit against Nagam Janardhan Reddy who rebelled against TDP.TRS is yet to decide whether it intends to field a candidate, leaving Reddy a bit jittery at present. The by-election here will once for all decide the political future of Nagam.
Meanwhile, the chances of TDP at the polls are generally being seen as bleak, but Naidu is not expected to leave anything to chance.
