Former TDP MLA Bonda Uma Maheswara Rao today lashed out at fellow party leader and MP Kesineni Nani for his "objectionable" style of functioning within the party.
It all started when the yellow party's top brass decided to field Nani's daughter Swetha as it's mayoral candidate for the upcoming Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) elections. The decision caused Maheswara Rao and several other party leaders, including MLC Buddha Venkanna, to launch an attack on the MP.
The former MLA alleged that Nani had been creating rifts within the TDP to make way for his daughter, and that while the other leaders were working towards electoral success and the development of the party, Nani was only working to grab posts and capture power.
Rao then claimed that the MP had behaved in a similar fashion during his stint in the Praja Rajyam Party, which had allegedly resulted in his eventual expulsion from the party. He even asked party supremo and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to choose between Nani and the other leaders in Vijayawada, and added that he would not participate in the former CM's campaign in the city tomorrow if the matter was not addressed.
Nani's remark, that he was "everything" for the yellow party in Vijayawada, also attracted the ire of fellow party members, and caused Rao to lambast him further - the former MLA dared him to resign from his post and win the elections by contesting as an independent candidate, implying that the people of Vijayawada had voted for Nani after seeing the TDP symbol next to his name during the elections.
"If he wins as an independent candidate, I will withdraw my complaints against him. I will even leave Vijayawada," Rao said.
The spat has reportedly left an already-wounded TDP rank and file even more miserable. Other party leaders and candidates contesting for the posts of corporators of the VMC appealed to the high command to look into the conflict and resolve, fearing that the fallout would negatively impact their prospects in the upcoming local body elections in Vijayawada.
It seems like the yellow party has been having endless troubles in the recent past. After it faced a rather humiliating defeat in the recently-held panchayat elections in the state, the party's candidates were reportedly left unhappy with the TDP leadership. They had alleged that the leadership had not provided them with the support they required to win the rural body elections. The issue became such a pressing one that TDP head Chandrababu Naidu was prompted to take a three-day trip to Kuppam, his constituency, to
mollify the angry and demotivated candidates.