Is a political realignment on the cards in Nellore district?
A meeting between Kaivalya Reddy, daughter of YSRCP MLA Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, and TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh during the ongoing Mahanadu on Saturday gave an indication to this effect.
The meeting assumed significance in the wake of the Election Commission issuing a notification for the June 23 Atmakur byelection, caused by the demise of Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy.
Ms. Kaivalya Reddy evinced interest in contesting the byelection from the constituency represented by her father in 2009, sources in the TDP said.
Reacting to the political development, TDP Polit Bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy told reporters that “she is our daughter. She is always welcome to join the party.”
The district, known for its unique political equation, could witness unconceivable political developments in the future, he opined. Mr. Chandramohan Reddy, however, parried a question whether the party would field her for the Atmakur Assembly seat.
It is to be seen whether the TDP will leave the seat uncontested to a member of the departed Minister’s family as per a convention set in Andhra Pradesh politics in the past, or field a candidate to feel the pulse of the people ahead of the next Assembly election.
Mr. Ramanarayana Reddy, who had started his political career in the TDP during N.T. Rama Rao’s tenure, switched over to the Congress in 1991, then made a homecoming to the TDP in 2016 before migrating to the YSRCP on the eve of the 2019 Assembly elections.
However, he had been critical of the functioning of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on various occasions in the last three years, giving an indication that he was not happy with the goings on in the ruling party.
