Chances are extremely bright that Tirupati Assembly Constituency sitting MLA, Mannuru Suguna (TDP) would get the ticket again.If that happens, then it will be the first time since 1983, the year in which TDP was founded, that Tirupati Assembly ticket will be given twice to a person.
Various candidates have been fielded by the TDP since 1983, none of whom were repeated.Suguna became the MLA after the untimely death of her husband Venkataramana, in 2014. Venkataramana had won by a margin of nearly 42,000 votes then.Eclipsing this, Suguna won with a majority of over 1 lakh votes, riding largely on the sympathy wave.
Knowing the Party’s history of not repeating the candidates, there were many aspirants naturally. But Chandrababu Naidu during his recent visit to Tirupati has indirectly hinted that Suguna will get the B-form again.Prior to that, all the dissidents and ticket-aspirants had a secret rendezvous at a star hotel in Tirupati.
Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) Narasimha Yadav is also said to be working against Suguna. Chandrababu apparently pulled up Yadav during his recent visit.Last year, when Chandrababu came to Tirumala for Brahmotsavam, Suguna was absent. This was reportedly her manner of expressing anger at not being given due respect by TTD authorities.
There was also speculation that she would be joining the Jana Sena.
Suguna has also not been getting the best of support from the district administration. IAS officers Vinay Chand and Hari Kiran who served as Commissioners of Tirupati Municipal Corporation were at loggerheads with Suguna.When a conference was organised on how to develop Tirupati into a ‘Smart City’, Suguna was not invited to it. This provoked a dharna from Suguna and her cadre.
Suguna was successful in getting her candidate Dampuri Bhaskar Yadav elected as TDP City President against the candidate nominated by the Kammas of Tirupati TDP.This created a rift but Chandrababu decided in favour of Suguna as she belonged to the Balija community which is the largest in Chittoor district.
The Kammas then resorted to a defamation programme on Suguna through one of their channels alleging lack of development in Tirupati.The biggest complaint against Suguna though is that the entire activities are now controlled by her son-in-law Sanjay.
“When Venkataramana was alive, there was no need for Sanjay. But after the former’s death, being the only male in the family, who else will help Suguna if not Sanjay?” says a source close to Suguna.There have been complaints of land- grabbing and undue favours being bestowed on Sanjay’s coterie including awarding fibre-net contracts to them in large numbers.
However, Chandrababu has discussed and resolved the issues although there are many who are still sulking.Despite such opposition, Suguna, a post-graduate turned politician has braved the storms and the only thing required now is an official confirmation regarding her candidature. The Balijas will take care of the rest.
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