New parties keep old faces

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 21, 2014: Candidates in the fray for various Assembly segments in Vizag are like old wine in new bottles. Most of the candidates that contested in 2009 are again in the fray this time too, but from different parties. More than half-a-dozen such candidates are contesting in various assembly segments.

In Vizag West, Telugu Desam nominee, PVGR Naidu (Ganababu), contested on a Praja Rajyam party ticket in the last elections and lost to Congress candidate, Malla Vijay Prasad.

In Vizag South, the present YSR Congress nominee, Kola Guruvulu, had contested on a Praja Rajyam party ticket in the last Assembly elections and lost by a narrow margin of a few hundred votes to the Congress’s Dronamraju Srinivas. The Congress has renominated Mr Srinivas to fight for the seat.

In Vizag East, a tight fight is expected between TD candidate and sitting MLA, VRK Babu and YSRC nominee, Vamsi Krishna Srinivas, who lost to the former by a narrow margin last time. In 2009, Mr Vamsi Srinivas contested on a PRP ticket.

Pancharla Ramesh Babu, who fought and won on a PRP ticket in the 2009 polls from Pendurthy, is now contesting on a TDP ticket from another constituency, Yelamanchali.

The YSRC nominee in Pendurthy is Gandi Babji who was the Congress’s candidate in the last polls and lost to Mr Panchakarla Ramesh Babu. This time, Mr Babji will face former minister, Bandaru Satyanrayan Murthy of the TD.

In Gajuwaka, Tippala Nagireddy who contested as an independent, after he was denied a Congress ticket in 2009, is now contesting on a YSRC ticket. He will face the TD’s Palla Srinivas, who contested the Vizag Lok Sabha seat in the last elections from the Praja Rajyam party.

Mr Palla Srinivas got the second highest number of votes after Purandheswari, who won the Vizag Lok Sabha seat. In Payakaropeta, Chengala Venkat Rao, who fought on a TD ticket, is now an YSRC nominee. And in Chodavaram, Karanam Dharma Sri, a Congress nominee in the last elections is YSRC’s candidate this time round.

Interestingly, former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who fought on a PRP ticket from Anakapalle assembly segment, is now a TD candidate from Bheemili segment. Before rejoining TD, Rao, was in Congress for a couple of years due to merger of PRP with the Gran Old Party.