Kapu candidates dominate Jana Sena list

A good number of fresh faces, all of them from one community, are also brought into the electoral battle by Jana Sena.
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan (File Photo | EPS))
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan (File Photo | EPS))

KAKINADA/ELURU: The Jana Sena Party (JSP), whose chief Pawan Kalyan talks of a society without caste, creed and religion, has given the lion’s share of tickets in the twin Godavari districts to candidates from one particular community. A good number of fresh faces, all of them from one community, are also brought into the electoral battle by the party.

Of the 34 Assembly seats in East and West Godavari, eight are reserved for SCs and STs. Of the 26 general seats, the JSP has allotted 16 to Kapus. Similar is the case with MP seats. Of the five Lok Sabha seats in the two districts, four of them are given to Kapus. The other one, Amalapauram MP seat, is reserved for SCs. 

In East Godavari that has 19 Assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies, three Assembly seats are reserved for SCs and one for a representative from ST community. Of the remaining 15, the JSP has given tickets to 11 Kapu candidates, a look at the candidates’ list shows. One Lok Sabha seat is reserved for an SC candidate.

“Of the 11 candidates, at least six are fresh faces in politics,’’ a JSP leader said, while observing that the party was going the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) way in allotting tickets to people from one community. The PRP, founded by Pawan Kalyan’s elder brother Chiranjeevi, had also given party tickets to one particular community. The party later merged with the Congress as it failed to make an impression in the 2009 elections in the then united Andhra Pradesh. The JSP has selected Vysya, Kshatriya, Kamma and BC candidates for the remaining four general seats. 

Ashok Babu (Raja Vatsavai Venkata Krishnam Raja Bahadur), a former Congress MLA from Tuni, is contesting for the same constituency from the JSP. He had represented the constituency from 2009 to 2014. The TDP’s Yanamala Ramakrishnudu had represented the segment from 1983 to 2009. At present, YSRC’s Dadisetty Ramalingeswara Rao alias Raja is the Tuni MLA. 

The new entries into the JSP from the Kapu community–Varupula Thammaiah Babu from Prathipadu, Polisetti Chandra Sekhar (Ramachandrapuram), Bandaru Srinivasa Rao (Kothapeta), Rayapureddy Prasad (Rajanagaram), Atti Satyanarayana (Rajahmahendravaram City) and Patamsetti Surya Chandra Rao (Jaggampeta)–do not have much political experience. DMR Sekhar, the JSP’s Amalapuram MP candidate who has worked as an official with the ONGC, is also a fresh face in politics. 

Previously a BJP leader, Akula Satyanarayana has joined the JSP and is the party’s candidate for the Rajahmahendravaram MP seat. Meanwhile, Kakinada MP contestant Jyothula Venkateswara Rao does not have any influence in the constituency, it is said. 

Makineedi Seshu Kumari, a corporator of the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, is selected as the Pitapuram MLA candidate amidst stiff opposition from local Jana Sena leaders and activists. She had represented the TDP in the last municipal elections and later joined the JSP. 

Amalapuram, Razole and Gannavaram constituencies are reserved for the SC community. One seat is allotted to the CPM party, an alliance member; Sunnam Rajaiah, former Bhadrachalam MLA, is contesting the ST reserved seat of Rampachodavaram. 

Meanwhile, West Godavari has 15 Assembly and two Lok Sabha segments. Six Assembly and both the Lok Sabha seats are given to the Kapu community. Of the 15 Assembly segments, four are reserved, while the remaining are allotted to the Kapus.

“Majority of the Kapu leaders were previously with the TDP or the YSRC. They found an alternative when Pawan Kalyan announced to contest the polls. Their joining the JSP has given an impression that it is a Kapu party,’’ a leader associated with the JSP said on the condition of anonymity.

The JSP has given the Palacole, Tadepalligudem, Tanuku, Nidadavolu, Bhimavaram and Achanta Assembly seats to Kapus. Palacole candidate G Nagababu was previously the YSRC’s assembly coordinator. Tadepalligudem candidate B Srinivas Rao was the Tadepalli municipal chairman till recently. Tanuku candidiate P Venkat Ramarao is a businessman. P Pulla Rao, an economist, has been made the party’s candidate for the Eluru MP seat. The Narsapuram Parliament seat is being contested by Pawan Kalyan’s brother Naga Babu.

New politicians 

Bandaru Srinivasa Rao is a businessman and the brother of TDP leader Bandaru Satyanarayana

Prathipadu candidate Varupula Thammaiah Babu is the uncle of TDP’s V Jogi Raju 

Ramachandrapuram candidate Polisetti Chandrasekhar is associated with the Kapu JAC in the East Godavari district. 

Rajanagaram candidate Rayapureddy Prasad is involved in local politics

Rajahmahendravaram City candidate Atti Satyanarayana is a film distributor 

Tanuku candidiate Pasupuleti Venkat Ramarao is a businessman

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