Amaravati, Nov 16 (PTI) The Telugu Desam Party on Monday named former union minister of state Panabaka Lakshmi as its candidate for the by-election to the Tirupati (SC) Lok Sabha constituency.

TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu announced his choice during a videoconference with party leaders of the constituency.

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He appealed to them to work for the victory of Lakshmi, who joined the TDP from Congress last year.

The by-poll has been necessitated in Tirupati due to the death of sitting YSR Congress MP B Durga Prasad, in September, of COVID-19. The schedule for the poll has not been announced yet, the TDP named its candidate.

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The ruling party is expected to field the kin of the late MP and a formal announcement is expected in a few days. The BJP is also jumping into the fray, seeking to reclaim Tirupati which it once represented in Parliament.

The Uana Sena of actor Pawan Kalyan will support the BJP.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)