Chodavaram Assembly constituency in Visakhapatnam district has been patiently waiting for its people’s representatives to address several basic infrastructure issues like health and education.
During the past three elections, the MLAs who got elected from the segment assured several promises including a drinking water project, permanent building for the degree college and upgradation of the area hospital. However, not a single promise has been fulfilled yet.
The constituency is spread over four mandals—Chodavaram, Butchayyapeta, Ravikamatam and Rolugunta. Each mandal has its own set of problems. During the Rachabanda at the end of 2013, former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had promised several works including `one crore for the drinking water project, `50 lakh for the degree college building, upgradation of the 30-bedded area hospital to 50-bedded one and also assured to strengthen the Sarada river tank bund at a cost of `140 crore but works have not been taken up even on a single project till date.
“Between 1999-2004, when the TDP was in power, we had a Congress MLA Balireddy Satya Rao, in 2004 and 2009 when Congress came to power, TDP candidate Ganta Srinivasa Rao and KSN Raju won the seat respectively. Our MLAs always have a strong reason to escape from their failures,” Ch Koteswara Rao, an unemployed from Butchayyapeta lamented.
Though there were plenty of proposals for strengthening the river bund on Sarada river, upgradation of PHCs, permanent building for the colleges and water projects, the officials and elected representatives failed to fulfil the needs of the district, former senior assistant, revenue department C Srirama Sarma said.
The degree college, which was established two decades ago, does not have its own building. Sugarcane farmers are looking for better irrigation facilities and remunerative prices, modernisation of Pedderu Right Canal and setting up of a degree college in Rolugunta are other demands in the constituency.
Sitting MLA: KSNS Raju
Party: Telugu Desam Party
Votes polled: 55,641
Margin of victory: 1,385
Runner-up: K Dharmasree
Party: Congress
Votes polled: 54,256
Total electors: 1,89,776
Men: 90,661
Women: 99,115
Poll percentage: 81.18
Total votes polled: 1,54,054
No of contestants: 9
Men: 8
Women: 1
No of polling stations: 234
Avg per polling station: 811
