Naidu asks public to choose TDP candidates

In an effort to introduce transparency in candidate selection, Telugu Desam Party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu has launched an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) programme on Sunday, enabling the public to choose a candidate for his party each for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.  

Addressing the press at his residence on Sunday, Naidu said a short message from him will be sent to all 8.5 crore mobile phones in both Seemandhra and Telangana, including six lakh TDP members, with the multiple option containing the names of four candidates. 

“All they have to do is to hear the names carefully and follow the direction to punch in the number of their choice, just like they do with any interactive voice service,” Naidu said.

Called Your town, Your candidate, Your Choice, the IVR service will also allow voters to reject the choices by pressing zero or suggesting their own choice. 

Naidu also said a similar programme will be created to collect voters’ opinion on his leadership. 

Meanwhile, six-time Congress MP and a minister in the UPA government Kavuri Sambasiva Rao organised a meeting to discuss his political future. It is widely expected that the MP will formally announce his exit from the party. 

Kavuri, who had expressed disgust over the Congress leadership in the past, is most likely to join the TDP.

Following Kavuri and former minister D Purandheshwari, it is also rumoured that two more Union ministers are preparing to leave the Congress, while another former minister Satrucharla Vijayarama Raju joined the TDP on Sunday.