Kodela Siva Ram, son of former Legislative Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, has made it clear that he will contest from the Sattenapalli Assembly constituency in the 2024 elections, whether the TDP gives him the ticket or not.
“I have decided to throw my hat into the ring to continue my father’s legacy, and I hope I will win,” Mr. Siva Ram said in an interaction with The Hindu on August 10.
Expressing displeasure over the developments within the party, Mr. Siva Ram said his efforts to get an audience with party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu at least for 15 minutes had fallen flat.
“Mr. Naidu is giving opportunities to the families of Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, Bhuma Nagi Reddy, and Paritala Ravi, but the Kodela family is left aside,” Mr. Siva Ram alleged.
“I just wish to continue my father’s legacy. My father had done a lot for the development and welfare of both Sattenapalli and Narasaraopeta Assembly constituencies,” he said.
Stating that his father was one of the trustees of the Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital, Mr. Siva Ram said his mother should have been taken onboard after his demise.
Referring to the appointment of Kanna Lakshminarayana as in-charge of Sattenapalli, Mr. Siva Ram said it was not acceptable for him.
Mr. Lakshminarayana had troubled the TDP leaders a lot when he was in the Congress government.
“I will contest the elections at any cost,” Mr. Siva Ram said, even as the TDP was projecting Mr. Lakshminarayana as the candidate from Sattenapalli.
Meanwhile, both Mr. Lakshminarayana and Mr. Siva Ram had participated in the Yuva Galam padayatra of party national general secretary N. Lokesh in Sattenapalli constituency on August 9.
While Mr. Lakshminarayana has been actively participating in all the programmes of the party, Mr. Siva Ram is undertaking several activities on his own with the support of his followers. Recently, the party had served notices to a few followers of Mr. Siva Ram.
