The upcoming elections to four Rajya Sabha seats have triggered a major debate within the ruling coalition in Andhra Pradesh, led by the Telugu Desam Party.
The debate is not about whom the Telugu Desam Party will nominate to the Upper House, but who will get the seat on behalf of the Jana Sena Party, which is likely to be allotted one of the four seats.
There have also been media reports stating that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has informally conveyed to the Bharatiya Janata Party that the BJP may not be accommodated this time and that the TDP will retain three seats.
However, going by the reports, it appears that even the Jana Sena Party candidate may be decided by TDP president Chandrababu Naidu.
Sources said it was the TDP that had been leaking reports to the media for the last few months that Jana Sena would field businessman Lingamaneni Ramesh for the Rajya Sabha seat.
Sources claim that discussions within Jana Sena have intensified because Lingamaneni Ramesh is not an official party member, raising questions about how he could represent the party in Parliament. Moreover, the Kapu community may not take it kindly if Pawan Kalyan prefers Lingamaneni.
Lingamaneni Ramesh is known to share close ties with Chandrababu Naidu. Following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Naidu shifted his residence to the Lingamaneni Guest House located on the Krishna river embankment in Amaravati.
The property itself had earlier become controversial, with allegations that it was an illegal structure. The industrialist is also believed to share cordial relations with Pawan Kalyan.
The Jana Sena chief had previously acknowledged publicly that Lingamaneni had provided land for film shooting purposes. There are also claims within party circles that he had offered land for the Jana Sena office at concessional rates.
But with Lingamaneni being a Kamma, Pawan Kalyan may face trouble if he is given the Rajya Sabha seat. He is said to be considering the name of another industrialist, Bandaru Narasimharao, who is also considered close to him.
Party sources also claim that a prominent Tollywood film producer is under consideration. Some leaders believe Pawan Kalyan may eventually prefer a film industry candidate to avoid political controversy within the party.
However, sources said Naidu is strongly lobbying for Lingamaneni and is said to be putting pressure on Pawan Kalyan.
He has even proposed that Lingamaneni could be a “joint candidate” of both Jana Sena and TDP, rather than an exclusive Jana Sena nominee.
It remains to be seen how far this speculation becomes a reality.
