Will the TDP accept the YSRCP offer of not contesting the Badvel bypoll and allow the kin of dead MLA Dr Venkata Subbaiah to become an MLA in his place? Or will it contest the poll as it did in Tirupati? This is the question that is being hotly debated in Badvel now.
Badvel MLA Dr Venkata Subbaiah trounced the TDP by over 44000 votes in 2019 elections. Since then, the TDP has been on the downslide in the constituency. It lost the panchayat and the local body polls. The TDP didn’t do much to redeem itself. But, the party has announced Obulapuram Rajasekhar as its candidate. Rajasekhar had contested and lost in 2019. Will he be able to make a mark this time is the big question before the TDP.
The YSRCP has sent a request to the TDP asking it not to field its candidate. Normally, the convention is that the other parties do not field their candidate in case of a bypoll caused by the death of a sitting MLA. The YSRCP did it in case of Nandigama bypoll. In case of Tirupati bypoll, this convention was not followed as the YSRCP did not field anyone from the family of the dead MP. But in Badvel, the YSRCP has fielded Dr Venkata Subbaiah’s wife Dr Dasari Sudha. But, will the TDP accept the YSRCP request and avoid confrontation or will it field a candidate and test the waters?
As of now, the relations between the YSRCP and the TDP are extremely sour and the TDP feels that the anti-incumbency is crystallising. Hence it feels that it should give a try in Badvel. The YSRCP is well-prepared for a contest in Badvel. A final call could be taken in a day or two. The election notification would be issued on Friday.
