The opposition TDP had named Telangana BJP leader and former IPS officer, T Krishna Prasad, as its candidate for Bapatla Parliament constituency. Several TDP leaders are in shock over this announcement as the party did not consult any of them before naming him as the candidate.
The candidates from Bapatla, Vemuru, Addanki, Repalle, Chirala, Parchuru, and Santhanuthalapadu, the party incharges and constituency presidents are in a shock over bring Telangana leader to the state overnight. Krishna Prasad, a BJP leader from Warangal was welcomed into the party overnight and was given the party ticket as if there are no candidates here.
Party former MP, Sriram Malyadri, and YSR Congress MLA Undavalli Sridevi are waiting for the party ticket from here. These names were doing rounds in the constituency for over past two months. It was said that the party would field either Malyadri or Sridevi from the constituency.
In 1989, Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu lost the seat as BJP candidate supported by the TDP. He lost the seat to Congress Party’s Salagala Benjamin by a margin of 43,620 votes.
Later in 1991 Daggubati Venkateswara Rao won the seat followed by Ummareddy Venkateswarlu, both from the TDP. In 1998, the seat went to the Congress with former chief minister Nedurumilli Janardhana Reddy contesting from here.
Film producer Daggubati Ramanaidu also won from this seat in 1999 followed by Daggubati Purandheswari of the Congress in 2004. The constituency was then reserved for the SCs since 2009. Former union minister J D Seelam also contested from here unsuccessfuly against Ramanaidu in 1999. However, he became Rajya Sabha member and was made a minister of state for finance in the Congress government.
Even Purandheswari was made a minister in the Congress government. Panabaka Lakshmi, who won from the seat in 2009 on the Congress ticket had become the Union Minister in the UPA government.
With such a long history behind, the Bapatla constituency is now having an outsider, that too a BJP leader as its candidate. The YSR Congress had named sitting MP, Nandigam Suresh, as its candidate. It is to be seen if this outsider can make it defeating incumbent Suresh.
