Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday, April 21 distributed nomination forms to 144 candidates contesting in the upcoming Andhra Pradesh Assembly and 17 members contesting for Lok Sabha seats, at his residence in Undavalli. However, four candidates who were initially nominated by the TDP chief received a jolt as the nomination forms went to others at the last minute.
In Madakasira Assembly constituency (reserved for Scheduled Castes) of Sri Sathya Sai district, party SC Cell leader MS Raju was given the nomination form or B Form, replacing Dr Sunil Kumar. This triggered tensions among party cadres in the constituency, as angry supporters of Sunil destroyed party banners and set them on fire, raising slogans against Naidu and MS Raju.
Former Narsapuram YSRCP MP who turned rebel against Jagan, Raghu Rama Krishna Raju, recently joined TDP. He was finalised as the candidate from Undi even after sitting MLA Mathena Rama Raju was earlier announced as its candidate.
Similarly, in Paderu (ST) constituency, former MLA Giddi Eswari was given B form. Eswari was elected as Paderu MLA from YSRCP in 2014. Earlier, TDP had announced K Venkata Ramesh Naidu as its Paderu candidate.
TDP’s candidate for Madugula constituency, Paila Prasada Rao, was replaced by former Minister Bandaru Satyanarayana. Satyanarayana, a former MLA from Pendurthi, was an aspiring candidate for that seat, but it was allocated to Jana Sena Party (JSP) as a part of the seat-sharing agreement.
Finally, Venkatagiri candidate Kurugondla Sai Priya was replaced by her father and former MLA Kurugondla Ramakrishna.