Luck doesn’t seem to be favouring former MP from Narasapuram parliamentary constituency Kanumuru Raghu Ramakrishna Raju, who revolted against YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy five years ago and finally came out of the party only recently.
Raju declared himself as the candidate for the Lok Sabha elections from Narasapuram on behalf of the Telugu Desam Party-Jana Sena Party combine, though he has joined neither party.
He has also kept the options open to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in the event of the latter joining the TDP-Jana Sena Party alliance, so that he would have the advantage of being a joint candidate of all the three parties.
According to the latest reports from New Delhi, where TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan are still holding negotiations with the BJP leaders, the Narasapuram Lok Sabha seat might be allotted to the BJP.
However, the BJP is unlikely to allot the ticket to Raju from Narasapuram, as state BJP president Daggubati Purandeshwari is understood to have recommended the name of U V Shyamala Devi, wife of former Union minister and popular actor late U V Krishnam Raju.
If it is not possible to accommodate Shyamala Devi, the BJP is preferring Bhupatiraju Srinivasa Varma, who had contested from Narasapuram in the past.
So, the chances of Raghu Ramakrishna Raju getting the BJP ticket are bleak, unless he uses his extensive lobbying with the national BJP leaders.
The BJP is also said to proposing industrialist Potluri Vara Prasad from Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat. If there is a possibility of yet another seat for Kammas, Purandeshwari herself would contest from Rajahmundry, sources added.