If the reports coming from the Telugu Desam Party sources are to be believed, finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu is most unlikely to get the party’s nomination to Rajya Sabha, elections to which are going to be held shortly.
Yanamala is learnt to have requested party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to send him to Rajya Sabha, as he wanted to spend the rest of his political life at the national level, leaving the state politics to youngsters.
Even Naidu’s son Lokesh has also favoured Yanamala’s nomination.
Naidu reportedly told Yanamala that his services would be required in the state level as the other party leaders do not have the kind of stature he had.
“I need your guidance at the state level. I cannot depend on the other leaders,” he said.
However, the actual reason for Naidu rejecting Yanamala’s request is that he is under compulsion to give one of the RS seats to an industrialist close to Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Another businessman Prabhu Kishore of Varun Motors is also said to be lobbying for the RS ticket.
Already, outgoing Rajya Sabha member C M Ramesh is seeking a second term and he is also an industrialist. At the same time, Andhra Jyothy MD V Radhakrishna is also one of the strong contenders.
Though Naidu requires the services of a big industrialist to lobby for the TDP and for him in New Delhi, he cannot give both the tickets to only businessmen or industrialists.
He has to accommodate a TDP loyalist as well. Leaders like Kambhampati Rammohan Rao, Panchumarthi Anuradha, Varla Ramaiah and Nelavala Subramanyam are also in the race for the RS seat.
And there is also a request from Telangana TDP leaders like Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy, Revuri Prakash Reddy and Aravind Kumar Goud.
It remains to be seen how Naidu balances his forces in the RS elections.
