Senior Telugu Desam Party leader and former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao is known for hopping from one constituency to another in every election. In the 2019 assembly elections, he won from the Visakhapatnam (north) constituency.
This time, TDP president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked Ganta to move to the Cheepurupalli assembly constituency in Vizianagaram district, which is around 150 km away.
Naidu told him that Ganta is capable of winning from anywhere he contests, especially in Cheepurupalli, where the TDP is very strong. Ganta has openly disclosed this to the media and said he would get back to the party president in a few days.
However, sources said Ganta is not keen on contesting from Cheepurupalli, not because he cannot win from there, but because he doesn’t want to fight against senior leader and state education minister Botsa Satyanarayana, who will be contesting on the YSRCP ticket.
Sources said Ganta and Botsa have good personal and business relations, and the TDP leader does not want to spoil this relationship. So, he has reportedly decided to convey to Naidu that he won’t be moving to Cheepurupalli.
“He is going to meet Naidu in a day or two and request that he be retained in Visakhapatnam (north) or be shifted to Bheemili, where he has better chances of winning. This will help him continue good relations with Botsa,” sources said.
However, there are reports that Botsa might be shifted from Cheepurupalli to Bheemili if the YSRCP prefers to continue his wife Botsa Jhansi as the party candidate from the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency.
“In that case, Ganta may accept Naidu’s proposal to move to Cheepurupalli,” sources added.