AMALAPURAM: Inundation of paddy fields at the time of floods and during the rainy season, insufficient supply of water to the tailend lands for cultivation, drainage and drinking water problems, construction of bridges, problems in fishermen- dominated villages and exploration of natural gas and oil by Reliance Industries in the Bay of Bengal at Gadimoga village are the main issues in the Amalapuram (SC) parliamentary constituency.
In this rather discouraging backdrop, sitting Congress MP of Amalapuram (SC) G V Harsha Kumar has to face two women candidates, Dr Gedela Vara Lakshmi of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and P Prameela Devi of the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) in this election.
Victory is surely not a cakewalk for the sitting MP this time. Harsha Kumar failed to implement the construction of the bridge between Kotipalli and Mukteswaram which is part and parcel of the Kotipalli- Narsapur railway line and a bridge between Sakhinetipalli and Narsapur.
However, the silver lining is that he is getting support from SC youth and is banking on the development activities and welfare schemes implemented during the last five years.
Since both the candidates of the TDP and the PRP are new to politics, the sitting MP is at an advantage in this triangular contest. He is assuring people that he will ensure the construction of bridges between Kotipalli-Mukteswaram and Sakhinetipalli-Narsapur and promising to solve other problems too. As the Amalapuram seat is reserved for the SCs, the three contestants may have to share the votes from all the segments. It may be noted that since 1962, Congress candidates have represented the constituency eight times while from 1983, TDP candidates have done it five times.
As a result of delimitation, Ramachandrapuram and Mandapeta Assembly segments were added to the Amalapuram parliamentary constituency, in addition to the existing Assembly segments o f M u m m i d i v a r a m , Amalapuram (SC), Razole (SC), Gannavaram (SC) and Kothapeta.
The total voters of the constituency are 12,67,264 of which there are 5,30,895 male and 6,40,366 female voters. Â