Senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former MLA S.V.S.N. Varma, who gave up his seat for Pawan Kalyan in the Pithapuram assembly constituency in East Godavari district during the recent assembly elections, appears to be pressuring the party leadership to award him an MLC seat.
The notification for elections to two vacant MLC seats under the MLAs’ quota in Andhra Pradesh was released on Wednesday.
Nominations will be accepted until July 2, with scrutiny on July 3. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is July 5, and the election, if necessary, will be held on July 12.
Since the YSRCP lacks sufficient numbers in the state assembly, both MLC seats are expected to be won by the TDP without contest.
These seats became vacant due to the disqualification of C. Ramachandraiah and the resignation of Mohammad Iqbal following their defection to the TDP.
Varma, who did not contest the assembly elections from Pithapuram due to Pawan Kalyan’s entry, is a strong contender for the MLC seat.
Naidu had promised to support Varma's political career if he stepped aside for Pawan Kalyan.
Varma withdrew and campaigned for Pawan Kalyan, who won the Pithapuram seat with a majority of over 70,000 votes. Now, Varma is seeking the MLC seat as compensation for his sacrifice.
Though Varma had remained quiet, he expressed his interest on the day the nomination process for the MLC seats began.
He declared his candidacy for the MLC seat via a tweet on X, referencing a scrolling news item on TV9.
"Varma, who personally led the fight from the front in Pithapuram and played a key role in the victory of Pawan Kalyan garu, is going to get MLC post?" he tweeted, tagging Naidu, Lokesh, and Pawan Kalyan.
This is seen as a tactic by Varma to pressure Naidu into announcing his name for the MLC post.
It is unclear whether Varma made the tweet after receiving a green signal from Naidu or if it is simply a signal to the party leadership that he is in the race for the seat.
There is speculation that Naidu is considering candidates such as Mohd Shareef, a Muslim leader, and Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, a Kapu leader, for the two seats. If this happens, Varma may not get the opportunity, sources said.
