VIJAYAWADA : The infighting in the Congress has had its impact on the filling of the posts of floor leader and whip in the general body of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).

For want of a better solution, local party leaders have left the matter of selecting candidates for these two posts to PCC President K. Keshava Rao.

The party State leadership reportedly rejected the candidature of Vijayawada East MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna's follower Siripurapu Phillip Gritton for the post of floor leader.

Followers of local MP Lagadapati Rajagopal were able to sabotage Mr. Gritton's chances by highlighting the disparaging remarks he is believed to have made in the past against former Minister P. Upendra.

The issue, however, did not attraction much attention in the dramatic turn of events that led to the election of Kankipadu MLA Devineni Rajasekher's follower Anne Prasanna as deputy mayor recently.

Poor showing

Despite making a strategic alliance with Mr. Rajasekhar, Mr. Radhakrishna failed to get even a single important post for his followers.

The followers of Mr. Rajagopal have been emerging victorious in every battle between the different groups in the party.

The appointment of Anne Prasanna as deputy mayor is being seen as another `feather in Mr. Rajagopal's cap'.

Though Ms. Prasanna does not belong to his group, she is favourably inclined towards him, as he has been openly proposing her name for the mayor's post for long.

On the other hand, the rivalry between Ms. Prasanna and Mr. Radhakrishna is known in the party circles. Mr. Radhakrishna openly opposed Ms. Prasanna's candidature when she wanted to contest as a corporator from a division in his Assembly Constituency when the civic body elections were held.

He has also been covertly opposing her candidature for the Mayor's post.

Better hold

Afraid of being caught in the crossfire, Mr. Gritton voluntarily opted out of the race and no other aspirant has come forward to stake a claim for the floor leader's post.

The MP group will win by default if the current floor leader, Kunuku Rajasekhar, a staunch follower of Mr. Rajagopal, is allowed to continue. Slowly but steadily, Mr. Rajagopal and his group have emerged stronger, gaining a better hold over the political composition in the VMC.

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