TIRUPATI: Chinta Mohan, only leader from Andhra Pradesh in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) now, as a special invitee, has been trying hard to win the April 17 Tirupati by-election.“After the 1988 Allahabad by-election and 1977 Azamgarh bypoll, the Tirupati bypoll is going to be a historic one. Only the Congress can offer good governance at the Centre. The election is a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. The party will not offer a single paisa or liquor to lure voters,” the Congress leader emphasised.
Known for his political acumen, Chinta, a six-time MP from the Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency, started his election campaign in Chittoor and Nellore districts much before the bypoll schedule was announced.
Heis contesting from the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat for the 10 consecutive time. In April 1974, as a Youth Congress leader, he began a movement for providing scholarships to SC/ST and BC students. He met former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in this regard and in the same year, he succeeded in getting the scholarships for the students.
Savita Ambedkar, wife of father of the Indian Constitution Dr BR Ambedkar, noticed Chinta Mohan asked the Congress leaders to take him into the party fold. He rose in stature in a short period and was elected as an MP from Tirupati in the 1984 elections, riding on the sympathy wave following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In 2004 and 2009, Chinta bagged the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat with 40.36 and 60.06 per cent votes, respectively. In the 1998 general elections, he won the Tirupati seat with 38.52 per cent votes. Similar was the result in the 1991 and 1989 elections — he won from Tirupati with 61.98 per cent and 54.36 per cent of votes, respectively. Chinta Mohan has declared Rs 3.27 crore assets in his affidavit filed before the returning officer. In fact, he is one among a few contenders of major political parties having assets below Rs 5 crore.