Assembly tickets carry fancy price tag

HYDERABAD: Money is likely to play a dominant role if politicians want to get tickets for assembly seats from the three main parties, Congress, TDP and PRP, in the cash-rich East and West Godavari districts.
These two districts have liquor barons and business men from the dominant communities -- Kapu, Reddy and Kamma -- who would not mind spending huge amount to secure tickets.
While East Godavari district had 21 assembly constituencies and West Godavari 16 in 2004, after delimitation, now the former has 19 while the latter has 15. The Kapu community is a dominant force in the region between Rajahmundry in East Godavari district and the north coastal region, while the BCs are in majority in the Amalapuram belt, which is known as Konaseema.
Keeping this in view, the Congress and TDP have now started looking for possible winning horses and are in the process of shortlisting the candidates.
Interestingly, BJP MLA from Pithapuram P Dorababu is all set to join the Congress. Dorababu made a surprise appearance in the Congress legislature party office on Wednesday. He is likely to formally join the party in next two or three days. This constituency has a Kapu population of about 48 percent.
When Chiranjeevi launched Prajarajyam Party, Dorababu wanted to join him and contest from the Pithapuram constituency. But it is learnt that Chiranjeevi expressed his inability to nominate him from here since he wanted to accommodate Vanga Geeta, former TDP Rajya Sabha member, who was among the first to join PRP from Pithapuram.
Following this, Dorababu is said to have met the chief minister three times recently and is understood to have got an assurance of being fielded from his constituency. Dorababu also belongs to the Kapu community. He told media that the members of SHGs in his constituency had asked him to contest on behalf of the Congress and that he would make a formal announcement in two or three days.
BJP floor leader G Kishen Reddy said that though Dorababu had won on BJP ticket last time, he never actively participated in the party programmes. He never participated in any of the debates in the assembly either.
The TDP too is in search of winning candidates. The local Kapu leaders who feel that they will not get tickets from PRP or Congress are thronging the TDP office.
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