Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, who is all set to collide head-on with ‘mega star’ Chiranjeevi, filed his nomination for the Tirupati Assembly constituency on Thursday amid great excitement and expectations.

The colourful procession took off at RTC crossroad after Mr. Reddy garlanded the statues of Dr. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.

Braving the blistering heat, his followers turned out in impressive numbers ahead of the motorcade.

The convoy passed through congested areas like Peddakapu Street, Bandla Street, Nethaji Road and Rayalacheruvu Road before culminating at the RDO’s office.

Incumbent legislator M.Venkatramana, former civic chief V. Muniratnam and his deputy D. Prasannakumar Reddy, TUDA Chairman Ch. Bhaskar Reddy, district Mahila Congress president K. Prameelamma, INTUC district president Mabbu Chenga Reddy, city Congress president Palagiri Pratap Reddy and other senior leaders were part of the procession.

As ‘super star’ Krishna announced his support to the Congress, members of the Tirupati Krishna-Mahesh Fans Association also joined the procession.

Auspicious time
Mr. Reddy hurried into the RDO’s office just minutes before the chosen ‘muhurtham’ to file the nomination papers, leaving his drum-totting followers well behind, understandably for fear of incurring the wrath of the ever-vigilant Election Commission.

Mr. Reddy announced that the Chief Minister’s development mantra alone would triumph and the “greasepaint” was all set to fade.

“I am sure the sanction of funds under Prime Minister Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) to SVIMS, Municipal Corporation status to Tirupati, establishment of SV Veterinary University and sanction of Rs.1,380 crore to the city under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) will endear me to my voters”, he told mediapersons.

Courtesy-The Hindu

The Praja Rajyam Party has released the names of its candidates for 13 Lok Sabha and 60 Assembly constituencies for the April elections in Andhra Pradesh.

PRP general secretary Allu Aravind released the party's second list on Sunday amidst protests by activists from various constituencies over denial of tickets to their respective leaders.

Former Indian Administrative Service officer Thota Chandrasekhar has been nominated as the party candidate for the Guntur Lok Sabha seat, while former MP Bhuma Nagi Reddy, who switched sides from the Telugu Desam Party, has been given the Nandyal Lok Sabha ticket.

Another former TDP leader S A Khaleel Basha is being fielded from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency against Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Former Union minister P Shiv Shanker's son P Vinay Kumar is being fielded from Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency. Of the 13 candidates for the Lok Sabha, three each are from backward classes, upper castes, minorities and Scheduled Castes while one woman too was given a ticket.

Former minister J Chittaranjan Das, known as the "giant killer" for having defeated the legendary N T Rama Rao in Kalwakurthy in Mahbubnagar district in 1989, has been given the PRP ticket from the same Assembly constituency. He defected to the PRP from the Congress.

There are no other big names in the PRPs second list for the Assembly.

Sticking to its "social justice" plank, the party gave 21 seats to BCs, 12 to SCs, 11 to STs, 14 to upper castes, two to minorities and seven to women.

The PRP has so far announced candidates for 23 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and 160 of the 294 Assembly seats in the state.