GUNTUR: Senior leader of Telugu Desam Party and minister for civil supplies Prathipati Pulla Rao is sweating it out against YSR Congress party candidate Vidadala Rajani, who is in the poll fray for the first time from Chilakaluripet of Guntur district. Other contestants in the Chilakaluripet Assembly constituency are Miriyala Ratna Kumari fighting the polls on Jana Sena Party ticket, Maddula Radha Krishna on Congress party ticket and Annam Srinivasa Rao fighting on BJP ticket.
The contest promised by the third candidate, Ratna Kumari of JSP and fielding of a strong aspirants by YSR Congress have forced minister Pulla Rao to work hard for votes that will help him win the legislative constituency in this election. As Rajani is from BC caste, BC votes are likely to get split. For record, BC voters have always been traditionally TDP voters. Pulla Rao is contesting for the fifth consecutive time and has won three times from Chilakaluripet. However, things can be different this time.
YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy appointed former MLA Marri Rajasekhar as YSRC Guntur district convener and further had selected him as YSRC candidate against minister Pulla Rao in Chilkaluripet constituency. He defeated Pulla Rao contesting as an independent candidate in the year 2004 election but Pulla Rao defeated Rajasekhar in the year 2009 and 2014 elections. But YSRC has changed its candidate this time and has given a ticket to a woman aspirant belonging to the BC community, Vidadala Rajani, to attract women and BC voters, who together are the deciding factors in the poll outcome in the constituency. YSRC president YS Jaganmohan however, had assured cabinet birth to Marri Rajasekhar if the party came to power in the election, during the announcement of candidate Rajani on YSRC ticket from Chilakaluripet.
YRSC president YS Jaganmohan Reddy announced ministry to Marri Rajasekhar during election campaign at Chilakaluripet on March 24, thereby creating a sensation among the supporters of Rajasekhar and all his supporters are jubilant. Polls also build confidence in the party cadre. Here, the party workers are working arduously along with Marri Rajasekhar and candidate Rajani in the constituency.
Marri Rajasekhar said that the announcement of ministry by YSRC president YS Jaganmohan Reddy during the public meeting made the public present spell bound and they later reacted positively towards the announcement and this has increased the winning chances of candidate Rajani, who is also working very hard for the past few months in the constituency.
He said that the people of the constituency were demanding hassle-free irrigation and drinking water supply and so they were assuring the people to resolve the issue through extension of Nagarjuna Sagar canal. He further said that he would like to allot houses to all eligible poor under government schemes and give house sites also.
Minister Pulla Rao, however, said that he would create history by hitting a hat-trick from Chilakaluripet. He said that the government implemented several welfare schemes to uplift all eligible poor in the society. He went on to add that he was always with the people and shared their movements and got them involved, to resolve their issues without showing any differences among the people.