Elections are back and so is the bitter rivalry between political families of these region. The political atmosphere in at least two constituencies is surcharged as rival families are once again trying to get an upper hand over their rivals.
A keen contest is on the card in the Jammalamadugu and Kamalapuram constituencies. In Kamalapuram, leaders who were rivals when they were in different parties have now joined hands.
The Jammalamadugu constituency, which turns into a battle field on slightest provocation, is once again witnessing a battle between Ponnapu Reddy and Chadiviralla (Devagudi) families. Now, Ponnapu Reddy faction is led by Ramasubba Reddy, who was a Cabinet minister in the TDP regime, and the other is by C Narayana Reddy.
The TDP used to have a hold on this constituency and it won five elections from here. P Siva Reddy won the seat for three terms-1983, 1985 and 1989-and was later killed in a faction feud. Siva Reddy’s brother’s son, Ramasubba Reddy, however, managed to get back control over Jammalamadugu constituency in 1994 and also won the 1999 elections after which the was made as a minister by Chandrababu Naidu.
However, brakes were put on Ramasubba Reddy’s dominance by his rival C Adinarayana Reddy (brother of Narayana Reddy), who won the 2004 and 2009 elections. Now the two families are once again locking horns. While Ramasubba Reddy would be harping on lack of development over the past decade, his opponent would be riding high on the YSRC’s strength.
Another battle field is Kamalapuram constituency. The TDP is fielding former MLC P Narasimha Reddy, but this time his rival would be Kadapa former mayor P Ravindranath Reddy, rather than the strongman of the constituency G Veerasiva Reddy. With Veerasiva Reddy joining the TD, the fight would be directly between the YSRC and TD.
It is learnt that Veerasiva Reddy, though failing to get the party ticket, has expressed his willingness to support Narasimha Reddy to defeat Ravindranath Reddy. ``Ravindranath Reddy is an outsider to the constituency and both the TD leaders do not want him to turn Kamalapuram into his bastion,” a TD leader said. Both the constituencies are now attracting the attention of the people and political observers of the district even as police are on tenterhooks over what would happen during the elections.