Altering the MLA/MP candidates and relocating them has been the name of the game that Jagan has been playing right before the coming elections in AP. In a similar vein, the new set of political rumors pertaining to AP polls suggests that MLA Roja could be skipping the assembly elections this time and move to Lok Sabha elections.
While there has been a long-standing murmur that Roja is not likely to get the Nagari MLA ticket again, the new update is that Jagan is contemplating the idea of sending her as the Ongole MP candidate.
YCP has already been throwing clear signals that their sitting MP from Ongole, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy will not be given the MP ticket this time. YCP MLA Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, who has close ties with Magunta is pushing the party high command to give the MP ticket to Magunta again. However, the party thinktank is reportedly not in favor of encouraging Magunta and has made up its mind.
For the last few weeks, there have been speculations that YV Subba Reddy might be given the Ongole MP ticket, in replacement of Magunta, and this looked more plausible as YV already won as Ongole MP in 2014. But all of a sudden, the new round of reports from Telugu media outlets are hinting that Roja could be given the Ongole MP ticket.
Ongole constituency has historically favored Reddy candidates and reportedly YCP sees Roja (real name is Sri Latha Reddy) as an optimal candidate here.
But on the contrary, not giving the MP ticket to Magunta will certainly irritate Balineni who recently said it won’t take much time to quit the party out of frustration. So YCP will have to bear in mind the repercussions of sidelining Magunta and possibly looking at Roja for Ongole Lok Sabha ticket.