Amaravati: In what could be a new trend, political parties found it extremely difficult to identify candidates for Lok Sabha elections . Although both TDP and YSRC announced candidates for all the 25 constituencies in the Andhra Pradesh , the process of selection of candidates was not smooth.The parties forced some of the candidates to remain in the fray with a promise to extend full support when they failed to identify suitable leaders for the contest. Even senior leaders who spent over three decades in public life, too, are keen only on contesting to assembly and stayed away from Parliament elections.“This is clearly a new trend where the leaders have lost interest in contesting the Lok Sabha elections. This might not augur well for democracy as we need strong voices in the Parliament to discuss various national and international issues apart from constituency affairs,” said professor D A R Subramanyam.According to analysts, the entry of business tycoons and industrialists have made elections an expensive affair and kept intellectuals away from the political arena. Till recently, parties used to spare a few seats for industrialists and continue to encourage senior leaders from within the party to go to Parliament to reflect the party’s stand on various issues.But the situation has changed in 2019 as even industrialists are reluctant to take the political plunge. “The power centred around the MLAs has made the MPs dummies without a say in any development activity in their constituencies. They have no role to play either in Parliament or in the constituency,” said a senior TDP leader. He said the MPs could not even get one of his followers appointed as market yard chief or a temple committee chief leaving the post less crazy.Sources said that a legislator believed to have forced the officials, not to ready even estimates on the proposal sent by MP to take up works with MPLADs when the MP granted the work on his own. “Many works that were recommended by me without consulting local MLAs were stalled in the middle,” said an MP on the condition of anonymity.He said since the state government was giving high priority to the MLAs, local bodies including panchayats and municipalities have a minimal role in development projects.

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