Visakahapatnam Lok Sabha seat is the most crucial one in the North Andhra region. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has finalised the candidature of M. Sri Bharat, a young and dynamic educationist and also the second son-in-law of Hindupur MLA N. Balakrishna, for the seat. What would he do to win from the seat? How would he coordinate with the cadre and what are his future plans? Let us listen to his opinions and the events that shaped him.
Q. What is your strategy to attract voters?
I am the grandson of Murthy garu, who has served the people of this region for the last 40 years. I would like to continue my grandfather’s tradition and serve the people. For the last four months, I have been moving with the party cadre and people, whose affection has brought me to this stage. It is a three-pronged strategy. I thought I should be able to convince the party leaders and cadre and secure the ticket, impress people with my work and garner their support in the form of votes and be accountable and responsible to the public not just for my 5-year term, but for my entire life.
Q. You are a new entrant into politics. How would you use your knowledge gained as an educationist to move ahead in politics?
A. I am not new to politics. There was political atmosphere in my house and I grew up amidst that. I was witness to preparations leaders make for elections. I will work hard to carry forward my grandfather’s ideals and social service which are imbibed in me. I know of people’s problems as leaders often spoke about them with my grandfather. I agree there is a difference between being witness to something and acting on issues. If given a chance, I would like to prove myself by tuning myself to the modern times.
Q. What would you like to promise to the people?
Of the 130 crore population in the country, 50 crore are youth. They have aspirations to make it big in their life. It is the responsibility of the government to make their dreams a reality. For this, I would like to take up projects that would provide youth with jobs. It would be much better if the youth themselves are motivated to be job providers than job seekers. I would fouus on making youth self-sufficient.
Q. What is your opinion about the party leaders in the 7 Assembly segments of your Parliamentary constituency?
I had already worked with six of them in the past. Any big task would need team work and I would like to be a part of the TDP family. In the last four months, they have made several suggestions and I am thinking about those viewpoints and implementing them, one at a time.
Q. What do you think had made the TDP high command defer selecting you as the party candidate for the Vizag Lok Sabha seat till the last minute?
A country’s progress depends on its leaders. Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat is a crucial one in this region and so the party senior leaders sat together to decide who would be the leader among us. Our leader Chandrababu Naidu passed on information that he would not like to take hasty decisions. It was after careful contemplation that the party high command picked me.
Q. What do you feel about the stiff competition for the Vizag LS seat?
A. Other political parties had finalised candidates for this seat much before the TDP. I believe that our actions speak more than our words and people are watching all our activities. There is very little time for the campaigning but as I am habituated to deliver more in less time since my childhood, I am moving ahead with a confidence that I would be able to impress the people.
