TDP releases first list with nine candidates

Two former Ministers, four former MLAs and a candidate who contested unsuccessfully figure in the first list of the nine candidates released by Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday for the coming byelections to the 12 constituencies in the Telangana region on July 27.

Two others are new faces including a software engineer, Putta Kishore who is also the vice-president of the Telugu Desam Sanketika Nippunula Sangham, from Sircilla constituency and Nakka Narayana, ZPTC member, from Dharmapuri Assembly segment.

The other seven candidates are Muddasani Damodar Reddy (former Minister, Huzurabad), Bode Janardhan (former Minister, Chennur), Palvai Rajyalaxmi (Sirpur), Gone Hanumantha Rao (Mancherial), Shikari Vishwanatham (Korutla) and Vem Narendra Reddy (Warangal West), all former MLAs. J. Surender who lost in 2008 byelections has been fielded from Yellareddy.

By fielding battle-scarred veterans, the TDP wants to send a strong signal that it has taken the byelections seriously, besides matching the candidates announced by Congress and TRS.

The party also stuck to its traditional decision of releasing the list only after the Congress did it.

The ruling party put out names of eight candidates in the first list on Sunday.

The TDP is still in the process of finalising candidates for the remaining three constituencies — Nizamabad Urban, Vemulawada and Siddipet — and sources said the problem was in finding the right candidates.

Ch. Sudhakar Rao, a former MLC and prominent Velama leader, was tipped for Vemulawada seat, but he continues to be unsure of overcoming the wave of Telangana sentiment. In his place, former Zilla Parishad chairman Gandra Venkateswara Rao’s name is doing the rounds.

The party may spring a surprise in Siddipet by fielding film comedian and former MLA, Babu Mohan, while it is still weighing the options whether to field a minority or a majority community candidate from Nizamabad Urban constituency.

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