Kesineni Sirinivas, also known as Nani, is a two-time member of the Lok Sabha from Vijayawada. He won the Lok Sabha seat twice on TDP ticket, in 2014 and 2019. On Thursday, June 8, he revealed that he was not invited to the recent Mahanadu of TDP. Mahanadu is an annual event where the party leaders from all over the state meet and chalk out political strategies. Speaking to the media, he said that he would contest independently if the party did not choose to field him again in Vijayawada.
When asked why he was not invited, Nani said that he did not have anything to contribute and his constituency issues were taken care of by another MP. He also said that people of Vijayawada are happy with him and he can contest independently too.
Nani had sought the parliamentary party floor leader position when he successfully ran for the MP seat a second time. However, Guntur MP Galla Jayadev was chosen over him, which upset him. His younger brother, Kesineni Shivanath, has been evincing a sudden interest in politics for a while. He joined the party last year, something that has irked Nani.
Nani still has a lot of political muscle and cannot be easily brushed aside. Earlier during the 2021 Vijayawada municipal elections, all those deputed to be in charge of the Assembly constituencies in Vijayawada unilaterally announced his daughter as the mayoral candidate. Many leaders in the constituency have been unhappy with Nani because of his moves at that time. He has as many as 16 MLA candidates ranged against him.
A TDP leader indicated the mood in the high command was against Nani and that Chandrababu Naidu is watching the scenario in Vijayawada closely. The Kesineni family were into the travel business earlier and once possessed 180 buses, but the business was shut down in 2018.
