A name from the faction past of Anantpur is again doing the rounds. It is that of Pothula Suresh. Along with Chaman, Pothula Suresh was a key lieutenant of Paritala Ravi.
If Chaman was the strategist, then Suresh was the enforcer. Together, the trio successfully created a brand of Paritala Ravi based on fear, for the better part of a decade, ruthlessly cutting down their enemies until they messed with the wrong guy in the form of Maddelacheruvu Suri.
Pothula is still active politically and his wife Sunitha is a TDP MLC from Chirala. Since the death of Ravi, Suresh has been keeping away from the Paritala family unlike Chaman who was with them until his death recently.
Admitting to differences with the Paritala family, Suresh said when he had gone into hiding after Congress came to power, he did not receive a single paisa from the Paritala family as financial assistance.
“Why don’t you ask them yourself how much they gave me?” was the angry reply from Suresh to the media.
It is a given that Pothula still has his followers in Anantapur and is now trying to gain a foothold again in the district politics. He is trying for an MP or MLA seat from the region and this is directly hurting the plans of Paritala Sriram.
Suresh has expressed interest in an MP ticket from Hindupur or Assembly ticket from the constituency that Sriram is looking at.
Apparently, some of the TDP leaders themselves in a bid to curb the influence of the Paritala family have brought Suresh back on to the scene.
Any disturbances between Suresh and Sriram will work out to the advantage of Thopudurthy Prakash Reddy.
