In a surprise move that could cause headache to YSR Congress Party, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a notice to the party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy over the suspension of another party founder Siva Kumar. The EC has given time till March 11th for Jagan to respond.

Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) was founded by Siva Kumar in 2011 who is a huge fan of YS Rajasekhar Reddy and by profession, an advocate based in Telangana. Jagan had become the President and Vijayamma as honorary President while siva Kumar was appointed as general secretary to Telangana.

During Telangana elections, K. Chandrasekhar Rao had criticised YSR and that ticked off Siva Kumar who then appealed to people not to vote for TRS. However, following this, Siva Kumar posted a newspaper ad to vote for Congress which did not go down well with the YSRCP High Command.

Following this, Siva Kumar was suspended by YSR Congress Chief permanently. After this, alleging that Jagan violated the party’s foundation rules, Siva Kumar filed a plea with Election Commission that Jagan has no right to take over the party and that the party should be handed over to him.

Amravati: With an Election Commission (EC) team visiting Andhra Pradesh to audit the state voter list, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Thursday instensified its attack on the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), claiming over 59 lakh fake voters had been added to the list at its behest.

Out of the total 3.69 crore names on state voter rolls, over 59 lakh (16 per cent) are invalid or duplicate, the YSRCP said at a press conference on Thursday and alleged that the TDP government was doing everything in its power to subvert democracy and steal the elections.

The party also released a detailed survey pointing out 59,18,631 voters under 12 different categories such as duplicate, illegal, invalid, bogus and demographically similar entries. It said the number of such voters was 52.7 lakh in September 2018.

The party further said that over 20 lakh people have votes in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

YSRCP chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had on February 4 met the Chief Election Commissioner to bring to his notice discrepancies in the state voter list and requested him to intervene in the matter to ensure free and fair elections.

YSRCP Legal Cell President P. Sudhakar Reddy then filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court seeking directions to the EC to rectify the discrepancies.

The High Court has sought a clarification from the Election Commission in the matter after an audit of the list.

Following the directive, a 10-member EC team, led by former Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi, arrived in the state on Wednesday to conduct an audit of electoral rolls.

Director Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Lakshmi’s NTR’ trailer has created a huge storm among the political and industry circles. The film is going to hit the screens in the second week of March and might well turn into a controversy with the view of elections.

So far the Nandamuri family and TDP chose to ignore as they opined that rather than involving in unnecessary stuff, it’s better to remain silent. But AP CM Chandrababu Naidu is heard to have opened up about the film for the first time, that too in an indirect manner so that it may not attract headlines. He has been holding discussions with his party leaders to discuss about the elections and while having a word about many issues, ‘Lakshmi’s NTR’ topic came.

Reacting on it, Chandrababu said, “New voters will be more in number and will play a crucial role in the elections. Educate them about NTR and his life. Some are trying to fabricate NTR’s history in a bad light and conspiring against TDP, don’t hesitate to hit back at these sort of gimmicks.”

However, the TDP chief reminded the leaders not to give much importance to the film as election commission is there to take care of it in case if the film has objectionable content. But TDP sympathisers are in no mood to be soft on RGV and the film. They might go against ‘Lakshmi’s NTR’ to court.

Congress leader and former heroine Vijay Shanthi has made interesting comments on Harish Rao being kept out of cabinet. Vijay Shanthi commented that it was her who was ignored by KCR and now it is Harish Rao who has been shown the door by KCR. Vijay Shanthi said Ale Narendra was the first, herself was second and now Harish Rao who got less prominence in TRS. Vijay Shanthi said she was forced to leave the party and alleged that Harish is also being treated in similar fashion.

Vijay Shanthi’s comments have kicked up a storm in TRS circles. Even as Harish had already cleared the air stating that he is not upset with KCR for not being given Ministry, a section of Harish Rao’s fans and his loyalists are not at all happy. Harish had earlier stated that he is a disciplined leader in the party and work as per the aspirations of CM. Yet, Vijay Shanthi’s fresh comments are now increasing fears in Harish’s camp.

Meanwhile, strong political talk is that Harish Rao would be sent to Lok Sabha in the forthcoming elections. However, Harish’s loyalists in the party are worried that their camp would get less importance in the coming days.

Rumour mills are working overtime to predict where AP IT Minister Nara Lokesh would contest the upcoming Andhra Pradesh assembly elections from. Political circles are rife with speculation that the latest on the TDP High Command’s mind is Guntur which could be a winning seat for Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s son.

Before becoming a minister in 2016, Lokesh was actively looking after party affairs. Following this he was nominated as an MLC and then made a minister in Chandrababu’s cabinet by handling over IT, Panchayat Raj and Rural development portfolios. It is believed that he was given Panchayat Raj and Rural Development portfolios to develop a rapport with grassroots people and keep an ear to the ground. That way, he would understand and connect with people on ground which could help him build his image by the time he contests as an MLA for Assembly.

Given that this is the first time that Nara Lokesh will be contesting in the elections, the TDP leadership is carefully analysing which seat fits him best and can make it easy for his win. Earlier, the TDP leadership has considered Rayalaseema as the region for Lokesh’s contest. However, with Chandrababu contesting from Rayalaseema, it was believed that Lokesh could be contesting from North Coastal Andhra. Now, this plan seems to be shelved and a new region has caught the TDP High Command’s attention, say party sources.

It is learnt that Lokesh is keen on contesting from Pedakurapadu constituency in Guntur district. Currently, TDP’s Kommalapati Sridhar is the MLA from Pedakurapadu constituency. Though Mangalagiri also came up for discussion, Pedakurapadu may be finalised as the party has a strong hold on ground in this constituency. According to party sources, Sridhar has agreed to sacrifice his seat to Lokesh as it is safe seat for TDP.

On the other hand, the TDP High Command has promised to acknowledge Sridhar’s sacrifice and nominate him to the Legislative Council. However, some leaders in TDP are of the opinion that Lokesh should either choose Coastal Andhra or Rayalaseema instead of choosing the capital region. Well, the party High Command is set to come out with a decision soon on this!