The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) resolved in its Polit Bureau meeting on Sunday not to contest the byelection for Badvel Assembly seat around the same time when the BJP decided to field its candidate (not yet finalised) against the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP)’s Sudha, wife of MLA G. Venkata Subbaiah whose death necessitated the bypoll.
The TDP’s decision came a few days after Dr. Obulapuram Rajasekhar was chosen as its candidate. He lost the election to Venkata Subbaiah in 2019.
The Jana Sena Party (JSP) has already decided to stay away from the race. By doing so, the JSP exposed the cracks in its alliance with the BJP, which has come under strain following the defeat in the byelection to the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat in April.
TDP State president K. Atchannaidu said in a press release that it has been unanimously agreed in the Polit Bureau meeting that the party should not field a candidate because the spouse of the deceased MLA is in the fray.
He said it was the TDP which had started the tradition of not putting up candidates in the byelections caused by the death of sitting MLAs.
The JSP took a similar stand while the BJP stated that it was against hereditary politics.
Hereditary politics
BJP State president Somu Veerraju told media persons in Kadapa, after holding parleys with Rajya Sabha member C.M. Ramesh, former Minister C. Adinarayana Reddy, district president K. Yella Reddy and district in-charge Ankala Reddy among others, that the party would remain in the fray and a candidate would be named in a day or two.
The BJP is against hereditary politics, he said, adding it had even fought against the Nehru family.
The BJP had initially offered the seat to the Jana Sena but Pawan Kalyan had chosen to stay out of the fray. The JSP’s decision, on grounds of impropriety, had put the BJP in a fix but finally the party has decided to take the plunge.
Mr. Veerraju is learnt to have received applications from four aspirants for the seat. Kadapa district general secretary Lakshminarayana Reddy and city secretary G.S.T. Lakshman Rao were present.