Summary:
Naidu has fielded Lokesh for Mangalagiri assembly seat. Haribabu had the backing of TDP, which had an alliance with BJP in that election, both for the state assembly and Parliament.The contest this time will have candidates from all the major political parties, but the contest is seen as being between TDP and YSRCP. Visakhapatnam: TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday declined the party ticket to M Sribharat (29), grandson of the late MVVS Murthi , a two-time Lok Sabha member for Visakhapatnam , citing a family relationship.Sribharat, a Stanford University graduate who is president of Gitam Deemed to be University, a position once held by Murthi, and N Lokesh, Naidu’s son, are both married to the daughters of Nandamuri Balakrishna, a film actor. “Sribharat is devastated by this development, but in hindsight, we should perhaps have waited for a while before projecting him as the TDP candidate,” he said.Naidu is reported to have decided to give the LS ticket to Sabbam Hari, 68, a former Congress Party MP and a former mayor of the port city. Elections to the state assembly and Parliament are scheduled to be held on April 11.“The CM told us that as Lokesh has already been declared as the party candidate for Mangalagiri, it would not be possible for the party to give the ticket to Sribharat, because then there would be 2 candidates from one family,” M S Pattabhi Rama Rao, father of Sribharat, told TOI.Rama Rao said several senior party leaders were clearly unhappy with Sribharat for opening a campaign office in the city, weeks before the Election Commission had even announced the election schedule..