TIRUPATI: With the declaration of TTD’s former chairman B Karunakar Reddy as Congress candidate for the Tirupati Assembly constituency, the polarisation of voters as well as leaders on caste lines has become quite marked.
It is to accommodate Karunakar Reddy, a close confidant of Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy that the Congress has dropped sitting MLA M Venkataramana of the backward Balija community. It must be noted that backward caste voters number 1.16 lakh in the total electorate of 2.25 lakh in the temple town -- that is, they account for over 50 percent.
A good number of local Balija leaders have already aligned themselves with the PRP, hoping to realise through it the long-cherished goal of ending the hegemony of the dominant Reddys and Kammas, while others are waiting for the party to finalise its candidate.
A Balija leader has opined that opting for the PRP was an inevitability as it would be fielding Chiranjeevi, a Kapu (or Balija in local parlance) whereas the TDP will be putting up another dominant caste candidate, K Sankar Reddy.
Within the Congress, it is no secret that the Balijas are upset over the replacement of Venkataramana, who won the seat in 2004 by a huge margin of 48,000 votes.
Needless to say, the PRP is elated over the turn of events and is hoping to profit from the resentment in both Congress and TDP over the overlooking of Backward Caste candidates.
For its part, the Congress is banking on the development card, as also the support of the minorities, Scheduled Castes and the Brahmins, who are the secondlargest group with 19,000 votes.
As for the TDP, it is looking to support from some backward castes, especially the Yadavas who number 16,000, to clinch victory.
The Assembly segment also has sizable Tamilian populations, with the Mudaliars numbering 13,000 and the Pillais (Karunigars) 9,000.