Incumbent Narasapuram MP Raghu Rama Krishna Raju alleged he was overlooked due to Jagan's influence but quickly retracted is statement.
Clockwise from top left: D Purandeswari, Kothapalli Geetha, CM Ramesh, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Varaprasad Rao, and Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma. (Supplied)
The BJP on Sunday, 24 March, released a list of candidates for six of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.
The party will be contesting the elections from only these six constituencies, as has been decided in the seat-sharing pact as part of its alliance with the TDP and the JSP in the state.
As per the list, Andhra Pradesh BJP chief D Purandeswari — the daughter of TDP founder NT Rama Rao and sister-in-law of the regional party’s current chief N Chandrababu Naidu — will contest from Rajahmundry.
Meanwhile, former Congress leader and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy — currently a BJP national executive member — will contest from Rajampet.
Former MP Kothapalli Geetha has been fielded from the Araku seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.
Rajya Sabha member CM Ramesh — currently battling forgery charges — has been nominated from Anakapalle.
Interestingly, Gudur YSRCP MLA Varaprasad Rao — who quit the BJP on Sunday — featured in the list as a candidate from Tirupati.
Andhra Pradesh BJP secretary Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma has been fielded from Narasapuram, resulting in a snub for renegade YSRCP MP Raghu Ram Krishna Raju.
Meanwhile, Industrialist and incumbent Narasapuram MP Raghu Rama Krishna Raju — popularly known as RRR — has said that he would not be contesting the elections from the seat.
Just two hours before the list announcement, he shared a 15-minute video on X (formerly Twitter) alleging that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had “temporarily” won by successfully influencing former AP BJP chief and national executive member Somu Veerraju to advocate against his nomination and favour someone else.
నాకు ఎంపీ సీటు దక్కకుండా @ysjagan చేసిన కుట్రలపై… pic.twitter.com/kBwcXkywdb
— K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju (@RaghuRaju_MP) March 24, 2024
Speaking emotionally, he also said that he had suffered a temporary setback due to a lack of foresight.
However, he quickly changed tack and took his statement back, saying that anything could happen in the coming days: He said he might be nominated from somewhere else.
Raju also appealed to the public to support the BJP-TDP-JSP alliance and vote it to power.
Raju, who won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Narasapuram on a YSRCP ticket, has been vocal against YS Jagan since 2020 and has rebelled against him.
He is currently facing around a dozen and a half cases filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, including a sedition case for promoting disaffection against the government.
Often critiquing his own party and appearing on TDP-friendly channels to oppose its policies, Raju has also been closely associated with the regional party’s chief Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, and BJP leaders in Delhi.
After nearly four years of rebellion, Raju recently resigned from the YSRCP and was waiting for the saffron party to strike an alliance with the TDP-JSP.
As part of the alliance, the BJP has been allowed to contest in six Lok Sabha seats and 10 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.
Many in political circles assumed Raju would be the obvious BJP candidate from Narasapuram. His recent statements and the denial of the ticket come as a surprise.
There has been a rift between sections of BJP leaders in Andhra Pradesh ever since its ally JSP announced a tie-up with the TDP on 14 September last year, when N Chandrababu Naidu was in jail following his arrest in the skill development scam case.
The BJP’s state leadership distanced itself from the JSP chief’s announcement, and refused to comment without a communication from Delhi.
Several BJP leaders had opposed the alliance with the TDP, fearing they would be sidelined.
However, senior leaders like N Kiran Kumar Reddy and CM Ramesh pushed for the alliance, claiming it would boost the BJP’s chances of winning, considering Andhra’s bipolar political landscape.
Even before the central leadership decided on the tie-up, some leaders lobbied for particular constituencies, demanding party tickets in case of an alliance. They even branded each other as “Naidu’s gang” and “Jagan’s gang.”
The BJP on 9 March formally announced its alliance with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh, further fuelling the race for tickets.
Meanwhile, at least eight Andhra Pradesh BJP leaders shot off a letter to the central leadership — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah — warning it of the backstabbing of the TDP
One signatory to the letter confirmed the existence of the letter to South First, and even shared a copy.
Requesting anonymity, he said the sentiments echoed in the letter were genuine and not for personal gains.
He added that the state unit’s list of winnable candidates was ignored, and the party was instead looking to field leaders who had been hand-in-gloves with the TDP.
The leader mentioned Rajya Sabha members CM Ramesh and Sujana Chowdhary, Lok Sabha member Raghu Ram Krishna Raju, and former state minister C Adinarayana Reddy, who got tickets bypassing senior leaders like Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, Tapana Chowdary, and GVL Narasimha Rao.
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