Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Adivasi Joint Action Committee has warned that if former MP Kothapalli Geetha is given the Araku Lok Sabha ticket in the upcoming elections, the committee will work towards defeating Geetha.Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, committee’s district convener Rama Rao Dora accused Geetha of consistently working against the interests of Adivasis. Maoists in the agency area also have previously put up posters accusing her of facilitating bauxite mining.Dora said on March 13, the committee wrote letters to BJP president J.P. Nadda and union home minister Amit Shah not to give the BJP ticket from Araku Lok Sabha to Geetha saying “we are not ready to accept a non-tribal as our MP.”The committee convener explained that in 2014, Geetha had filed her nomination from Araku Lok Sabha constituency as YSRC candidate and won the elections. In 2016, a petition had been filed against her claiming that she does not belong to the ST community. In June 2019, through BJP leader Ram Madhav, Geetha met Amit Shah and joined the BJP.Now, for the upcoming elections, BJP high command is planning to field her from the Araku Lok Sabha constituency.Rama Rao Dora said, “This time, we are very firm that we will not tolerate a non-Adivasi candidate. How can she contest from a seat reserved for the ST community,” he asked.The Adivasi leader said an investigation committee had been formed to probe whether she belongs to a scheduled tribe. The district magistrate had then stated that Geetha did not belong to ST community.“How can we make her victorious? We want an Adivasi candidate who will speak for the region,” he maintained.The committee convener maintained that they will also fight against Jana Sena and Telugu Desam if Geetha is fielded from the Araku Lok Sabha seat.
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