NELLORE: A strong and stiff competition awaits the TDP in Nellore district, considered a bastion of the Congress for years before the YSR Congress has gained prominence. The political equations kept changing in this district till the last minute of finalising of candidates by the two rival parties and now with the YSRC ‘poaching’ a ruling party candidate for the Assembly constituency and announcing him as the party’s MP candidate the contest has become interesting.
In 2014 general elections, the YSR Congress bagged seven (Nellore City, Nellore Rural, Sarvepalli, Atmakur, Gudur, Sullurpeta, Kavali) seats in the district along with Nellore Parliamentary seat leaving just three to the TDP. However, Gudur MLA Pasam Sunil Kumar shifted his loyalties to the TDP in 2016 and the tally of the ruling party rose to four in the district.
The 10 constituencies in the district are spread across Nellore and Tirupati (SC reserved) Parliament constituencies. There are 22,06,652 voters across the district comprising 10,82,690 men, 11,23,624 women and 338 transgenders.
Interestingly, though the YSRC is fielding all its incumbent MLAs, it has replaced both of its sitting MP candidates. It has renominated Ramireddy Prathap Kumar Reddy from Kavali constituency, Mekapati Gowtham Reddy Atmakur, P Anil Kumar Yadav Nellore City, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy Nellore Rural, Kakani Govardhan Reddy Sarvepalli, Kiliveti Sanjeevaiah Sullurpeta. The YSRC received a shot in the arm before the elections with the entry of Anam Ramnarayana Reddy, a former minister, who holds sway in the district. The party has fielded him from Venkatagiri constituency while Mekapati Chandrasekhar
Reddy will be in the fray from Udayagiri and Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy from Kovur.
The TDP, which received a setback with the exit of Adala Prabhakar Reddy, who has joined the YSRC, is banking on Panabaka Lakshmi, a senior Congress leader, who joined the ruling party recently, to win Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency. She won Nellore MP seat thrice and Bapatla Parliamentary constituency once. The veteran leader will take on Balle Durgaprasad of the YSRC.
The YSRC has picked up Prabhakar Reddy to fight Nellore Parliamentary seat. He had won in the 1999 general elections from Allur constituency on TDP ticket and worked as a minister for housing. In 2004 and 2009 elections he won the Sarvepalli seat on Congress ticket. After bifurcation, Adala shifted his loyalties to the TDP in 2014 and unsuccessfully contested the Nellore LS seat. He lost to his nearest rival and YSRC candidate Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy.
Both Nellore and Tirupati Lok Sabha seats were bagged by the YSRC in 2014. Nellore Lok Sabha constituency comprises Nellore City, Nellore Rural, Kovur, Atmakur, Udayagiri, Kavali and Kandukur (Prakasam district) Assembly segments. Beeda Mastan Rao (TDP) had won the Kavali Assembly constituency in 2009 elections and lost it to YSR Congress candidate Pratap Reddy in the 2014 elections. TDP district president and MLC Ravichandra is younger brother of Masthan Rao. The Beeda brothers have a strong cadre in some coastal villages in Kavali constituency as well as in border areas of Prakasam district.
Factoid
The district has a coastal line of 169 km covering 12 mandals from Tada to Sullurupeta
There are 108 fishermen villages comprising a population of 1.98 lakh
There are five revenue divisions in the district - Nellore, Kavali,
Gudur, Naidupet and Atmakur
Past facts
The Congress ruled the roost in the district since 1955, except in 1967 polls, winning seats with thumping majority till 1989. There were 11 Assembly constituencies before the number came down to 10 after reorganization in 2009.
1994 and 1999 polls witnessed huge influence of Telugu Desam where the party bagged majority seats. In 2009, Congress won only four seats and it drew blank in 2014 polls as the nascent YSR Congress struck its roots and won over traditional Congress vote-bank.
Somireddy to test his luck again
Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy is again going to test his luck in Sarvepalli after he faced three consecutive defeats. In fact, the segment has been a stronghold of the Congress since 1955. The Congress bagged the seat in 2004 and 2009 polls. In 2014, YSRC’s Kakani Govardhan Reddy beat Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy by 5,446 votes.