Nandamuri Suhasini from Kukatpally - Why not any local Telangana candidate?

Hyderabad, Nov 17: In a strategic move, TDP national president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has decided to bring Nandamuri Suhasini(the granddaughter of Telugu Desam Party founder-president NT Rama Rao) into politics, and to field her from the Kukatpally Assembly constituency scheduled to be held on December 7.

Suhasini is the wife of Ch Srikanth, who is the son of former TDP MP Chundru Srihari.

Daughter of former parliamentarian and TDP politburo member Nandamuri Harikrishna(who died in a road accident at Nalgonda this year) Nandamuri Suhasini will enter the fray which is allotted to TDP as part of the Maha Kootami (or) grand alliance led by the Congress party.

However, Political sources inform that Naidu had at first thought of fielding actor Nandamuri Kalyanram, the son of Harikrishna, but he was not keen on politics and preferred to pursue his career in films. This also means that the Nandamuri family, including Nandamuri Balakrishna, may come out to campaign for the candidate.

# Points to be focused:

~ Kukatpally is one of the key constituencies in Telangana with a large number of settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. It is considered to be a stronghold of the Kamma community.

~ Leaders from the community, including Lok Satta chief Jayaprakash Narayan and TDP leader Madhavaram Krishna Rao (who defected to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi), have represented this constituency.

When Suhasini s name was announced, it had upset senior leaders E Peddi Reddy and Mandadi Srinivasa Rao, who were aspiring to get the ticket. However, Naidu assured both leaders that he would give them appropriate positions of power later.

In 2014, it was Madhavaram Krishna Rao who had won the Kukatpally seat from the TDP, but has since defected to the TRS. The incumbent ruling party has renominated him and he is now expected to go up against Suhasini.

Naidu’s decision to field Suhasini was driven by caste considerations. Moreover, the sympathy towards her father Harikrishna would help her win the seat, the party person cited above said.

After the death of Nandamuri Harikrishna, the Nandamuri family have come together to support Mr Naidu, except for Daggubati Purandeswari, who is in the BJP and still a critic of Mr Naidu.

And that is not all. The local TDP leaders and activists are protesting against her for alloting a seat for Nandamuri family heir and exempting the senior party leaders.