TDP is Heading to Polls with Anantapur Unit in Disarray 

Anantapur: The factional war in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has escalated significantly. The Internal bickering has driven a rift between the party leaders. Anantapur TDP unit is a case in point. The undivided district has 14 assembly constituencies. The internal strife within the TDP is worsening by the day. 

The aim of each leader is to defeat another in the ensuing elections. Following the reorganization of the districts, the TDP high command appointed presidents to lead the party in both Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts. However, local level TDP leaders in these districts refuse to accept direction or oversight from the local leadership. 

The late TDP leader Paritala Ravi wielded immense influence in the party's decisions. However, following his death, the Paritala family has lost this political clout and the local TDP unit is now in disarray. Payyavula Keshav, who represents Uravakonda assembly constituency, does not maintain good relations with the Paritala family and this is also contributing to the instability in the party. 

Another prominent leader Varadapuram Suri, who was elected from Dharmavaram constituency in 2014, but lost his reelection bid on a TDP ticket in 2019. He subsequently defected to the BJP. The presence of Suri and Paritala Ravi’s son Paritala Sriram in the same town often leads to political tensions in the region. 

Meanwhile, influential TDP leader JC Prabhakar Reddy is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. As he’s not actively participating in the party’s political activities, the TDP high command is reportedly considering offering his son a ticket out of political necessity.

Recently, the TDP leadership observed the death anniversary of former chief minister and party founder NT Rama Rao (NTR) across the constituencies of Anantapur district. However, the programmes ended in chaos as the rival groups within the party clashed over garlanding the NTR statues from Kalyandurg to Kadiri seeking to assert dominance before the elections. 

With elections fast approaching, the internal fighting in the district unit has set off alarm bells for Chandrababu Naidu and the party leadership.  And, this infighting is expectedly causing the delay in announcing the names of party candidates for upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state. 

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