In the Telugu states and across India, it is a commonplace for scions of prominent political figures to enter politics and contest elections by leveraging familial ties — especially after the demise of such senior leaders, when public sympathy for the family is running high. It is therefore not too surprising that Kodela Siva Rama Krishna, the son of former Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, expected a ticket from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the upcoming state Assembly elections in 2023, after his father died allegedly by suicide in 2019. Despite being mired in several controversies and being accused of extortion and corrupt activities, Siva Prasada Rao was hoping to contest from the Sattenapalle Assembly constituency of Palnadu district, represented by his father from 2014 to 2019. However, dashing his hopes, the TDP — the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh — recently decided to appoint former state chief of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, who switched parties in February this year, as the leader in-charge of the constituency.
Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, a new entrant to the party, being made in-charge of Sattenapalle seems to have irked Siva Rama Krishna, who seemed to have been banking on his father’s legacy in the region to secure the Sattenapalle ticket in the 2024 Assembly elections. Since then, Siva Rama Krishna has been quite vocal against his own party.
The disgruntled TDP leader alleged that his party has not been “receptive” to his complaints and expressed resentment over how he was being treated, invoking his father's commitment to the party when he was alive. “The party stood by the families of other senior leaders, but we do not understand why we are sidelined. Is this the level of deference the TDP shows to a senior leader who has served the party faithfully throughout his life?” he told the media after Kanna Lakshmi Narayana was made in-charge of Sattenapalle.
Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, who was a doctor, rose to prominence as a noted politician in Andhra’s Palnadu region, after he gained a reputation by practicing medicine. He worked closely with TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu and party founder NT Rama Rao as well. Siva Prasada Rao was elected five times from the Narasaraopet Assembly seat, and once from the Sattenapalli constituency — both part of present-day Palnadu district. When the TDP was in power, he had held cabinet positions as well, and was the Speaker of the newly formed Andhra Pradesh Assembly from 2014 to 2019.
Kodela Siva Prasada Rao died allegedly by suicide at his Jubilee Hills residence on September 16, 2019, months after the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) came to power, shocking political circles in the two Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The YSRCP had formed the government after winning a staggering 151 of the 175 seats. Shortly after, they dug up alleged scams from the previous administration and claimed to expose the corrupt dealings of party leaders in the TDP. The ‘K-tax (Kodela Tax)’ controversy was brought up by the YSRCP, which claimed that Kodela’s family and his son and daughter had extorted money from contractors, land dealing and businessmen in AP.
The police had reportedly filed more than 25 cases against the Kodela family, including his son Siva Rama Krishna and daughter Vijayalakshmi. Days before Siva Prasada Rao’s death, a controversy erupted in the state over the former Speaker shifting expensive furniture from the Assembly building in Hyderabad to his residence in Guntur district. After this, a motorbike showroom belonging to his son was searched, and the missing furniture was recovered from there. At the time, manyl TDP leaders pointed fingers at the YSRCP and alleged that their “harassment” over the issue had disturbed Siva Prasada Rao. On the other hand, his brother-in-law Kancheti Sai accused Rao’s son Siva Rama Krishna of torturing his father mentally and physically, alleging that the son could have killed his father to acquire his property.
Recently on June 8, an elderly couple had staged a protest in front of a statue of Siva Prasada Rao that was to be inaugurated by his son Siva Rama Krishna in Rudravaram village in Palnadu district. They alleged that Siva Rama Krishna had extorted Rs 60 lakh from their son and demanded that he return their money.
After Kanna Lakshmi Narayana’s appointment as Sattenapalle in-charge, one of the grouses that Siva Rama Krishna has brought up is that the former BJP state chief had earlier abused TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu when he was with the BJP and the Congress before that.
Kanna Lakshmi Narayana is considered to be an important leader from the Kapu community in Guntur district, who was associated with Congress since his college days. He won four times from the Pedakurapadu Assembly constituency (aso in Palnadu district) between 1989 and 2004, and once from Guntur West Assembly constituency (in the neighbouring Guntur district) in 2009. He joined the BJP in 2014 and was made the president of the state unit in 2018. However he resigned in February this year, blaming his successor Somu Veerraju for his decision and joined the TDP after å few days. He was appointed in-charge of Sattenapalle constituency in the last week of May.
According to a senior TDP leader who did not wish to be named, Siva Rama Krishna has been accused in countless money extortion cases while the TDP was in power and his father was in public office. “Siva Prasada Rao was close to me too. He has developed his constituencies and the party respects him, so they did not do much about [the extortion allegations]. But the son’s actions definitely damaged Siva Prasada Rao’s image, which could have possibly led to his failure in the 2019 Assembly elections,” the leader told TNM.
The TDP leader who wished to remain anonymous said, “Now his son Siva Rama Krishna is expecting the same kind of treatment [as his father enjoyed within the party]. After his father’s death, no one liked to be seen with him because of the bad reputation he earned. He has undone the good work his father had done in the region,” he said, adding that leaders with considerable clout aren’t usually suspended by a party over mere accusations but instead sidelined if those accusations are serious and damaging, as in Siva Rama Krishna’s case.
He added that though Kanna Lakshmi Narayana had initially asked to lead the Guntur West constituency, the party believed it was already doing well there. The Narasaraopet constituency, which was previously a stronghold of the Kodela family, was also believed to be in the hands of capable leaders. “Lakshmi Narayana is the right fit for Sattenapalle, considering the kind of experience needed to face sitting [MLA] YSRCP MLA Ambati Rambabu. and also matches the caste equation [since both are from the Kapu community],” the TDP leader said. Kodela Siva Prasada Rao’s family belongs to the Kamma community, as do TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and party founder NT Rama Rao.