This Issue is Giving Headache to Pawan Kalyan!

Kakinada: Last month, Pawan Kalyan, the leader of the Jana Sena Party (JSP), announced Uday Srinivas Tangella as the party's candidate for the Kakinada Lok Sabha constituency. However, this decision has become a source of headache for the party leadership. Srinivas is a businessman and the founder of the popular tea shop chain, Tea Time. 

Initially, Pawan Kalyan was undecided about the constituency Srinivas would contest from. He had stated that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah requested him to contest the Lok Sabha elections, he would enter the fray from Kakinada Lok Sabha, while Srinivas would contest from Pithapuram.

Accordingly, the Jana Sena leadership appointed Srinivas as the in-charge of the Pithapuram assembly constituency, and he commenced campaigning there. He also managed the party's programmes and arrangements for Pawan Kalyan's Varahi yatra in the undivided Godavari districts.

Later, Pawan Kalyan decided to contest from the Pithapuram assembly constituency himself, leaving Srinivas disappointed. Reports suggested that TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had a role in the Jana Sena leadership's decision regarding the candidacy of Srinivas.

Even though TDP was instrumental in allocating the Kakinada Lok Sabha seat to Srinivas, there seems to be a conspiracy to remove him as the candidate from that constituency. Local TDP leaders have opposed his candidature, claiming that he is an outsider and unfamiliar to the voters. They have demanded the party leadership replace him with a stronger candidate. Except for Pithapuram and Kakinada Rural assembly constituencies, the TDP has fielded its candidates in five other constituencies.

The TDP leadership is reportedly trying to replace Srinivas with a prominent businessman, Sana Satish Babu, in the Kakinada Lok Sabha seat. As per the seat-sharing deal, the TDP allocated only two Lok Sabha seats to the Jana Sena and is now planning to snatch one seat from the ally. The Jana Sena supporters are upset with the TDP's aggressive approach and intervention in the party's internal matters. Meanwhile, Srinivas is expected to file his nomination papers as the Jana Sena candidate from the Kakinada Lok Sabha seat on Thursday.
 

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