Visakhapatnam: Chandrababu Raises The Stakes For Balakrishna’s Son-in-Law, Bharat 

Visakhapatnam: The secret understanding between Jana Sena, Pawan Kalyan's outfit and the TDP, is not such a secret anymore. The masks are off with the Jana Sena fielding weak candidates in places where it wants to help the ruling party and vice versa. Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat is an exception to this secret pact. The TDP has nominated Bharat, Nandamuri Balakrishna's son-in-law for the Lower House, bowing to pressure from Balayya, it is widely believed. Bharat, who is the grandson of the founder of GITAM University, MVVS Murthy, has a strong base in Visakhapatnam. He had been aspiring for a Lok Sabha ticket for some time and had apparently sounded this out to TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu earlier and had even begun his campaign on this score.

Things took a sudden twist with the chief minister's son and IT minister, Nara Lokesh, who is also a son-in-law of Balakrishna, evincing interest in eyeing an assembly seat from the region. He narrowed it down it to either Bheemili or Visakhapatnam North. Chandrababu who is reported to have failed to persuade Bharat to stay out of the contest, had to yield to the pressure exerted on him by his brother-in-law, Nandamuri Balakrishna. Meanwhile, Nara Lokesh decided to zero in on Mangalagiri to make his electoral debut. It did appear on the surface that with both Balakrishna's sons-in-law getting tickets of their choice, the story reached a happy ending as far the allocation process goes.

Chandrababu, however, seems to have had other plans for Bharat. Perhaps, the GITAM scion's pressure through Nandamuri Balakrishna, forcing Nara Lokesh to shift out of the district, did not go down well with the TDP chief. Former CBI official, VV Lakshminarayana, who was supposed to join the TDP and contest from Bheemili, jumped on to the Jana Sena bandwagon. He was given the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha ticket. The coincidence could not have been clearer--Bharat was handed the Vizag Lok Sabha seat and Lakshminarayana nudged into the Jana Sena, raising the stakes for Balakrishna's other son-in-law.

In all places except the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency, the Jana Sena and TDP fielded weak candidates as part of their understanding. For instance, Pawan Kalyan has given his party tickets to virtually dummy candidates against TDP heavyweights of the region like ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Ayyanna Patrudu. This is also the case with a reluctant Jana Sena Lok Sabha candidate from Araku, as also a virtually unknown candidate from Anakapalle. The strategy to aid the ruling TDP is clear. The buzz is that Chandrababu wants to kill two birds with one stone in Visakhapatnam. He has turned Bharat's electoral debut into a major challenge despite all the resources the inheritor of GITAM legacy has. At the same time, he has agreed to the former CBI official contesting from Visakhapatnam, which could help him in terms of caste equations, from the Jana Sena.

The Jana Sena had earlier been tossing about names of lesser known candidates when the ruling party was considering fielding minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao or Palla Srinivasa Rao. The minute Bharat's candidature was announced, Pawan Kalyan decided to field VV Lakshminarayana. This is being seen as a blow at Bharat to dent his chances. Chandrababu seems to have given Balayya's son-in-law what he wants while making it twice as difficult for him to win.

Over the past three and a half decades, the TDP has won the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat only on 3 occasions. The ruling party leaders themeselves admit privately that the seat is not one of their strongholds. As things stand, there is a positive buzz about the YSR Congress Party across the state and the party candidate MVV Satyanarayana has streaked ahead with his campaign. The party has a clear advantage here as in many other constituencies and this has also been borne out by many surveys conducted by national television channels.

Also Read: YS Jagan Scores Over Chandrababu In Selection Of Candidates