According to reports, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), N Chandrababu Naidu, has selected a candidate from the Backward Classes (BC) to contest in the ongoing Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections from the Assembly constituency.
The YSR Congress, with a majority of 151 out of 175 MLAs in the House, has named its candidates for all seven vacant MLC seats. The TDP, with 23 MLAs, is planning to field an eighth candidate to force a contest, and Naidu has recommended the name of party spokesperson Panchumarthi Anuradha, a BC woman who previously served as the Mayor of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.
However, the TDP needs 25 votes to ensure its candidate wins, and with only 23 MLAs on its side, it is unlikely to succeed since four MLAs are already rebels and even whip may not help if all of them abscond. It is said that Naidu selects SC or BC candidates for the losing seats and only gives winning seats to candidates from the Open Category (OC). Now he is proving the same again.
