MANGALAGIRI: Mangalagiri was just like any other constituency in the capital region of Guntur district till the time the TDP announced its candidate for the seat. When the name of Nara Lokesh, IT minister and the son of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, was announced, the constituency assumed much significance and has now joined the likes of Kuppam and Pulivendula, being represented by Chandrababu Naidu and Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy respectively.
The battle for the seat is between Lokesh and sitting YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who won the seat in 2014 by a slender margin of 12 votes. While Ramakrishna Reddy is riding high on the development he had taken up in the constituency, the TDP is banking on the candidature of Lokesh.
While the YSRC is looking to retain the seat, the TDP wants to create a history of sorts by winning the seat after more than three decades. Though Jana Sena-backed Left party candidate is also in the fray, the main fight is between the YSRC and the TDP.
With major part of the constituency falling under the capital region, the TDP is going with the rhetoric that the YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will shift the capital from Amaravati to Donakonda in Prakasam district if his party comes to power.
The farmers of the capital region have benefitted from the land pooling scheme through which lands were acquired from them and the majority of the villagers, barring some pockets, are opposed to shifting of the capital. The YSRC leadership is trying to make it clear that it won’t shift the capital and, in an apparent bid to put forth its stand loud and clear, Jagan had even moved to his new house in Tadepalle mandal in the capital region of Amaravati.
Ramakrishna, who enjoys a good clout among the local public, however, made it clear that his development agenda will see him through. This is despite of the fact that Mangalagiri, hardly 20 minutes away from Vijayawada, does not have proper public transport connectivity. “As the MLA of Mangalagiri, I have approached the CM with Rs 7 crore-worth proposals on various occasions, but not a single one was approved since I am in the Opposition party,’’ Ramakrishna Reddy, who was on the last leg of his campaign in Mangalagiri town, told TNIE.
“All the development in Mangalagiri was done with local funds. We have won local body elections in three mandals and one municipality and we are taking up development works with local funds,’’ he claimed.