AMARAVATI: The simmering differences between the warring factions of the Telugu Desam Party ( TDP ) in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh burst out in open, with party Rajya Sabha member TG Venkatesh questioning the authority of PR minister and party national general secretary Nara Lokesh in declaring the party candidates for next elections.Miffed with Lokesh endorsing the sitting MP Butta Renuka and Kurnool city MLA SV Mohan Reddy as party nominees, Venkatesh on Wednesday said that Lokesh is not the final authority and they will wait for party supremo Chandrababu Naidu’s call on the issue.Lokesh made a calculated move during his day-long visit in the district on Tuesday by declaring that Renuka will be the party’s nominee for Kurnool Lok Sabha constituency and Mohan Reddy for Kurnool assembly seat. The prince of TDP, Lokesh, who always desists from making independent decisions on key political issues in open, has made a departure from the convention and declared the party candidates almost a year before the elections. The party leaders and activists were surprised at the sudden announcement from Lokesh. “It is not only a well-thought out decision to put an end to the infighting well in advance of the elections but also to assert his authority over the party,” observed a senior party leader.However, the move has not gone down well with Venkatesh faction. “Lokesh is neither the chief minister nor the party supremo to declare the party candidates. We will approach the chief minister and wait for his call,” said a displeased Venkatesh. He said that Lokesh did not take the local political combinations and permutations into consideration before making such an announcement.On the other hand, SV Mohan Reddy group is on cloud nine after getting the nod from Lokesh. Mohan Reddy strongly condemned Venkatesh’s statement on Lokesh’s announcement. “Lokesh is party’s national general secretary and fully empowered to declare the party candidates,” he defended. He said that decisions on party candidates would be taken keeping in view of the particular situation and political equations and no leader could question the authority of Lokesh.TDP in Kurnool district is likely to face more troubles as all the assembly constituencies were packed with two strong factions which were eagerly waiting for head on collusion. Industrialist and former minister TG Venkatesh belongs to strong vysya community. He joined TDP from Congress before 2014 elections and lost the assembly seat to SV Mohan Reddy, a YSRCP nominee. He got a chance to become RS member in 2016. His son Bharath is actively working in TDP and waiting to make an entry into direct politics. SV Mohan Reddy, YSRCP MLA, switching sides to TDP made things tough for Bharath. Bharath’s hopes were dashed when Lokesh clearing both LS and assembly nominees.

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