GOOTY: Guntakal is known as the nerve centre of railways. Besides being a popular business centre, this town in Anantapur district in the Rayalaseema region is also known for film distribution companies and finance companies. But the constituency has its own problems.
Due to recession in the film industry, several distribution companies have closed shop. The Guntakal railway division was downsized and the largest Andhra Cooperative Spinning Mills was closed down due to trade union problem. Similarly, the railway sleeper factory was closed down due to workers’ unrest. Farmers have been, for a long time, demanding water supply to their lands but nobody bothered to address the issue. In 1991, the then chief minister M Channa Reddy laid foundation stome for the Guntakal Bypass Canal, but nothing happened afterwards.
The constituency, formed in 1955, covers Guntakal, Gooty and Pamidi mandals. In 1955, it was twin representative constituency, Congress candidate Rajaram and S Naraynappa won the election. In 1962 the seat was won by CPI leader VK Adinarayana Redy, in 1967 by independent candidate R Ramachandra Goud and in 1972 by another independent candidate DK Venkat Reddy. In 1978 Congress candidate K Venkataramaiah won from here.
In 1983, noted businessman Pathi Rajagopal won from here on TDP ticket. Gade Lingappa won the seat in 1985 and A Jagadeesh of the Congress in 1989. In 1994 Gade Lingappa won on TDP ticket while in 1999 Sainath Goud contested and won on TDP ticket. In 2004, following the death of Gade Lingappa, her daughter N Neelavathy won the seat. Now noted businessman K Madhusudhan Gupta is contesting on Congress ticket, Sainath Goud on TDP and Pathi Ravikumar on PRP ticket.
Anantapur Lok Sabha candidate Venkatrami Reddy has managed to settle the differences among the Congress leaders here much to the relief of the Congress candidate.
The Guntakal Assembly constituency has about 2.10 lakh voters. Of them, 1.4 lakh are men.