There was a sudden leak from the Bharatiya Janata Party sources to some media houses on Tuesday stating that retired IAS officer and former chief secretary of Karnataka K Ratna Prabha, would be contesting the by-elections to Tirupati parliamentary seat as a common candidate of the BJP and Jana Sena Party.
Ratna Prabha, who originally hails from Prakasam district, worked on deputation in combined Andhra Pradesh for a few years during the regime of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, but went back to Karnataka after the completion of deputation.
Her father Kathi Chandraiah, brother Pradeep Chandra and husband Vidyasagar also worked as IAS officers. After retirement, she was appointed as chairperson of Karnataka Skill Development Corporation.
There is no surprise if Ratna Prabha is being considered for the by-election to Tirupati Lok Sabha seat. But the question is which party she would be contesting from – BJP or Jana Sena. She cannot be a joint candidate at all.
Both the parties are adamant on contesting the elections to Tirupati seat. The BJP leaders held a long discussion with Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan a couple of days ago, but he is very firm on Jana Sena contesting the elections. As a result, the stalemate continues.
Against this backdrop, the proposal of Ratna Prabha’s name as a joint candidate has come as a surprise. She is already a BJP leader in Karnataka and hence, naturally, she would be the BJP candidate. One wonders whether Pawan Kalyan will accept her candidature or not.
