Many ticket aspirants including sitting MLAs in many segments are a worried a lot as TDP National President and CM Chandrababu Naidu is doing a close study of their winning chances. Their anxiety has increased manifold amid speculation that Naidu will release the first list of TDP candidates in January itself.
As announced earlier, the TDP is adopting the same line of thinking followed by KCR who gave TRS tickets to contestants very early and made them take up electioneering in every nook and corner of their constituencies. Now in AP, the TDP is going to release candidates’ names in nearly 70 out of the total 175 seats in the first phase. There is also talk many sitting MLAs will be omitted in the first list.
Following this, the MLAs are doing extra exercises to fall in the good books of CBN and make sure that their names figure in the first list itself. There are rumours that the TDP is all set to bring in new faces in Kurnool and Anantapur districts to counter the YSR Congress Party and the Jana Sena there. It may be recalled Pawan Kalyan is placing special focus on Anantapur district triggering rumours he may also contest from one of the segments there. There is intense rivalry building up with the presence of three major players in the contest in AP which is unlike in Telangana where it was a straight battle between the TRS and the Prajakutami alliance of the Congress, the TDP and other parties.