Making an about turn and leaving the sulk, Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani has clarified that he has never said that he would not contest the 2024 elections. He also asked the party workers and supporters not to lose heart. He said he would very much contest the 2024 elections.
Few days ago, there were reports that Nani had written to Chandrababu Naidu indicating that neither he nor his daughter Shwetha would contest the 2024 elections and asked Chandrababu to look for another candidate. This led to a furore where thousands of his supporters trooped into Kesineni Bhavan and demanded that he take back his letter.
Clarifying about the episode, Nani said that he has never said that he would not contest. He said he has only told Chandrababu Naidu to give importance to the hard-working party cadres. He said he would continue to serve the people so long as he had the blessings of Goddess Kanakadurga.
Ever since Kesineni Nani won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there have been rumours about his switching to another party. There were rumours that he was very close to BJP’s Nitin Gadkari and that he would join the BJP soon. But, Nani stuck to the TDP and did not change the party. Later, Nani had a run-in with Pattabhi, Buddha venkanna, Bonda Uma and Nagul Meera over the VMC elections. These leaders had worked against his plans to make his daughter Shwetha the mayor. He was upset that the party leadership did not take any action against these leaders for backstabbing the TDP in Vijayawada. It is only out of the frustration that Nani has shot off a letter, sources say. Now the storm has ended with Nani saying that there was no question of leaving the party.