Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu has disclosed the final list of candidates for the upcoming elections. The TDP revealed the candidates for four Lok Sabha (LS) and nine Assembly constituencies on Friday afternoon.
In a tie-up with the Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the TDP will contest 144 Assembly seats out of 175 in the state and 17 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, with 10 assembly seats and six Lok Sabha seats earmarked for the BJP, and 21 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats for the JanaSena.
Nonetheless, Naidu’s candidate selection process has met with internal criticism. Allegations have emerged that the TDP leadership has shown favouritism towards certain aspirants, notably those from Naidu’s Kamma caste while sidelining candidates from economically disadvantaged and marginalized communities. Party members have accused Naidu of betrayal, asserting that personal interests rather than party welfare appear to influence his decisions.
Amid this controversy, the TDP has finalized candidates for the remaining assembly seats. For the Lok Sabha seats, the announced names are Vizinagaram – Kallisetti Appalanaidu, Ongole – Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Anantapur – Ambika Lakshminarayana, and Kadapa – Chidipiralle Bhupesh Reddy.
The nine Assembly segments and their respective candidates are as follows: Cheepurupalli – Kala Venkat Rao, Bhimili – Ganta Srinivas Rao, Paderu (ST) – Killi Venkata Ramesh Naidu, Darsi – Dr Gottipati Lakshmi, Rajampet – Sugavasi Subramanyam, Alur – Veerabadra Goud, Guntakal – Gummanur Jairal, Anantapur Urban – Daggupati Venkateshwar Prasad, and Kadiri – Kandikunta Venkata Prasad.
List of Assembly seat nominees
Cheepurupalli: Kala Venkat Rao
Bhimili: Ganta Srinivas Rao
Paderu (ST): Killi Venkata Ramesh Naidu
Darsi: Dr Gottipati Lakshmi
Rajampet: Sugavasi Subramanyam
Alur: Veerabadra Goud
Guntakal: Gummanur Jairam
Anantapur Urban: D Venkateswar Prasad
Kadiri: Kandikunta Venkata Prasad
List of candidates for LS seats
Vizianagaram: Kallisetti Appalanaidu
Ongole: Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy
Anantapur: Ambika Lakshminarayana
Kadapa: Chidipiralle Bhupesh Reddy