Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s move appointing former minister Kanna Lakshminarayana as party in-charge of Sattenapalli assembly constituency triggered protests in the camp of former assembly speaker late Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.
Kodela’s son Shivaram and his group registered strong protests with the party for choosing defected leader Kanna Lakshminarayana, ignoring Shivaram, who was pinning hopes on the seat and nurturing the constituency for long. They threatened to walk out of the party if justice was not done to Shivaram.
Realising that the rebellion by Kodela group might damage the party prospects, Naidu quickly began damage control.
On Friday, he sent a three-member committee of the party, including Nakka Anand Babu, Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy and G V Anjaneyulu to pacify Shivaram.
The committee held talks with Shivaram and requested him to maintain restraint. Explaining the reasons why Naidu had taken the decision keeping in view the caste considerations, the committee members told him to drop plans to take up agitations.
“Naidu knows that it is a difficult decision and injustice would be done to Shivaram. But he is keen on compensating the loss caused to him. He would definitely do justice to Kodela’s son,” a committee member said.
Naidu is expected to call Shivaram for a one-on-one meeting shortly and give him a concrete assurance, after discussing his issue in the party.
