Srikakulam District is the stronghold of the Telugu Desam Party since its inception. In Jagan’s wave in 2019, the party managed to win only two assembly seats out of the total ten seats in the district. Ram Mohan Naidu also won Srikakulam Parliament.
But these numbers are nowhere near the institutional strength of the party. Meanwhile, the party high command says TDP improved drastically in the district according to their surveys.
But then, the confusion about the candidates may damage the party. For every seat, there are multiple aspirants and the cadre themselves are confused.
In the Srikakulam assembly, former MLA Gunda Lakshmi Devi claims she got assurance from Chandrababu regarding the ticket but three more leaders are making the same claims.
A similar situation exists in Pathapatnam, Etcherla, and Narasannapeta constituencies. In Pathapatnam, former MLA Kalamata Venkata Ramana is claiming the ticket but another leader, Mamidi Govindha Rao is saying that Chandrababu gave him assurance.
In Narasannapeta, Buggu Ramana Murthy claims he is the frontrunner but there is a section of the cadre which says a newcomer will be given chance this time.
In Etcherla, Senior leader Kimidi Kala Venkat Rao is in similar confusion. Senior leader, Kalisetti Appalanaidu is aggressively working in the constituency.
As of today, Gouthu Sireesha in Palasa, Bendalam Ashok in Ichhapuram, and Kuna Ravikumar in Amudalavalasa have no such headaches.
The party may face problems here in case the confusion is not cleared.
