ANANTAPUR: An interesting contest is on the cards in Anantapur parliamentary constituency, where the two main contesting parties — TDP and YSRC — have fielded first-timers JC Pavan Kumar Reddy and Talari Rangaiah respectively. Pavan Kumar is the son of JC Diwakar Reddy, the sitting MP of Anantapur. Pavan was made party candidate following pressure from his father.
Being from a political family, money power and TDP cadre strength in the constituency are expected to be plus points for him. However, he being relatively a new face with not much reach among the people in addition to the anti-incumbency factor may affect Pavan. Cooperation from the party MLA candidates was also not visible during the election canvassing. The internal difference among TDP leaders also came to the fore during the electioneering.
Incumbent MLA of Kalyandurg, Hanumantharaya Chowdary is peeved over not getting party ticket to recontest. He is reportedly maintaining distance from the election campaigning. Congress State chief Raghuveera Reddy is contesting Kalyandurg as MLA candidate and it is likely to benefit the YSRC. Guntakal Assembly segment is another place where the TDP candidate will be at a disadvantage. Industrialist Madhusudan Gupta aspired for TDP ticket to contest elections and he was even promised the same. He has been involved in door-to-door campaign for last six months. At the eleventh hour, he was denied ticket and he joined the Jana Sena later. This would split the TDP votes.
YSRC candidate Talari Rangaiah is also contesting elections for the first time, but two factor may work in his favor — caste and his influence as a bureaucrat. Hailing from Boya (Valmiki) community, which has 2.4 lakh voters, Rangaiah has an advantage over his rival. Before joining politics, Rangaiah worked as DRDA project director in Anantapur district and as municipal commissioner of Anantapur Municipal Corporation.
For several years, he has extensive interaction with people, more so with DWCRA groups.
Caste factor will be crucial in determining the poll verdict. Boya and Kurba communities, which dominate Anantapur, are reportedly leaning towards the YSRC. In spite of sops given to farmers and woman by Naidu, they might not influence the outcome much.