Alarmed over the latest developments in Tirupati, YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has asked his confidante Y.V. Subba Reddy to rush there and check the rumblings of dissent against party nominee B. Karunakara Reddy. Mr Subba Reddy will reach Tirupati on Wednesday to identify the weak areas in the party campaign and to check dissent. Sources said, according to latest survey reports, Congress candidate M. Venkata Ramana is ahead both in the election campaign and election management.
Both Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and MP K. Chiranjeevi are concentrating on the prestigious Tirupati segment. Leaders close to Mr Chiranjeevi say the future of their leader and his elevation as Union minister depends upon the victory of the Congress nominee in Tirupati as the seat was vacated by him. For Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy too, the seat is important since Tirupati is in Chittor, his native district. He has been talking to several leaders in Tirupati almost every day, telling them he needs victory at all costs.
The Chief Minister has even deputed his brother Kishore Kumar Reddy to take charge of Tirupati. The Congress campaign in Tirupati has been based on the persuasion that the temple town needs only a ‘local’ man like M. Venkata Ramana and not a ‘non-local’ like Mr Karunakara Reddy, who hails from the neighbouring Kadapa district.
In fact Mr Karunakara Reddy, a former TTD chairman, has been focusing on Tirupati ever since Mr Chiranjeevi became an MP and even completed his campaign much before everyone else. But when the Congress named Mr Venkata Ramana, a former MLA, as its candidate and started electrifying the campaign, survey reports indicated he had moved ahead of Mr Karunakara Reddy.
It was suggested to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy that Mr Karunakara Reddy be replaced with Mithun Reddy, son of Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, (the bete noire of Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy), as the par-ty nominee. But Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, motivated by sentiment in choosing Mr Karunakara Reddy as he was close to his family, stuck to his choice.
Earlier reports indicated that Mr Karunakara Reddy would win hands down due to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy's popularity in the constituency. But once electioneering began, a different picture emer-ged and Mr Karunakara Reddy appears to be lagging behind. After their call for a change of candidate was turned down by Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, some leaders seem to have started distancing themselves from campaigning for Mr Karunakara Reddy.
Not a happy prospect for the party!