TDP has on Friday reportedly nominated businessman M Giridhar Rao as its official candidate from Guntur East Assembly constituency. Sources say that this is first time that the TDP deviated from its convention of fielding a Muslim candidate since the party’s inception in 1982.
TDP founder N T Rama Rao started this while Naidu continued this till the last election. Guntur East Assembly segment is a Muslims dominated seat and even Congress followed the footsteps of Rama Rao, by fielding candidates from the minority community.
The late NT Rama Rao first nominated a Muslim leader of his fans association, Pathan Umar Khan (Bude Khan) as he used to visit his hotel always during his trips to Guntur. Though Umar Khan emerged victorious, he subsequently joined Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s team during 1984 revolt.
This time both Congress and YSRCP are fielding Muslim candidates, but TDP has refrained from it! The reason behind this is unknown but some say Naidu will have a political strategy behind choosing Giridhar Rao for this.
