Turpu Kapus urge TDP to allocate more tickets in Vizianagaram LS constituency

YSR Congress Party has allocated one MP and four MLA seats to the community, they say; loyalists of former Minister Kala Venkata Rao are seeking Etcherla Assembly seat for him

Turpu Kapu community, which has around eight lakh population in the Vizianagaram Parliamentary constituency, is mounting pressure on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leadership to allocate MP and more MLA seats for the community in the backdrop of YSRCP fielding Bellana Chandrasekhar (Turpu Kapu) as MP candidate from Vizianagaram Parliamentary constituency. YSRCP has also given MLA tickets to four Kapu leaders such as Botcha Satyanarayana (Cheepurupalli), Botcha Appala Narasayya (Gajapathinagaram) and Baddukonda Appala Naidu (Nellimarla) and Gorle Kirankumar (Etcherla). All those four constituencies come under the Vizianagaram Parliamentary constituency.

TDP, which has considered the names of Pulsus Group chairman Gedela Srinubabu and former Minister Kala Venakta Rao, both belong to Turpu Kapu community, is adopting a wait and watch policy as the BJP is also seeking ticket for Vizianagaram Lok Sabha seat. Meanwhile, loyalists of Mr. Kala Venkata Rao are seeking Etcherla Assembly seat for him as he had represented the seat previously.

The TDP Kapu leaders feared that inordinate delay in selection of candidates would help YSRCP candidates to intensify their election campaign.

The TDP has so far given only one ticket to Kondapalli Srinivas (Gajapathinagaram) out of seven Assembly segments within Vizianagaram Parliamentary constituency. It has allocated Nellimarla seat for Jana Sena Party which fielded upper caste leaders, leading to several protests for the last two weeks.

Followers of TDP Nellimarla incharge Karrotu Bangarraju expressed displeasure over the decision of the party high command. According to them, TDP was defeated in all the seven Assembly seats and MP seat in the 2019 elections as the party ignored Kapu community. Turpu Kapu Samajika Vedika president Rongali Ramarao said that TDP would face defeat in MP and MLA seats in all constituencies this time too if it continued to ignore the community.

The association’s senior leaders Pattigulla Venkata Rao and Mantri Ramanamurth expressed displeasure over allocation of seats for upper caste leaders in the TDP’s first and second lists. Uttarandhra Backward Classes Association president Muddada Madhu alleged that political parties were intentionally suppressing the voice of majority people belonging to Kapu, Yadava and Velama communities.