GUNTUR: The political scenario in Repalle seems to have changed with the removal of YSRC MP Mopidevi Venkataramana from the constituency in-charge post. He was among the 11 Assembly constituency in-charges changed by the YSRC leadership.
The YSRC has appointed new incharges for five SC reserved constituencies that fall in the erstwhile undivided Guntur and Prakasam districts, where the TDP is said to be strong. Mopidevi, a staunch loyalist of YSRC chief and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was elected from the Repalle Assembly constituency in the 2009 elections. He joined the YSRC after its formation in 2011.
Despite facing defeat in the 2014 and 2019 elections, Mopidevi’s loyalty was rewarded and he was made Member of the Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, the TDP has a strong hold on the region as the sitting MLA Anagani Satya Prasad won the seat with a huge majority in the last two elections. As YSRC is determined to wrest the seat from the TDP in the ensuing elections, the party leadership has appointed Evuri Ganesh, who belongs to the Gowda community, as the constituency in-charge.
He contested in the 2009 elections on Praja Rajyam Party ticket, and lost to Mopidevi. Ganesh, along with his wife Kesavati, joined the YSRC in the presence of Jagan and Mopidevi in November this year. He is the son of former MLA Evuri Subba Rao and Sitaravamma, who was a former minister in the TDP regime, and was elected to the Assembly thrice from Kuchinapudi constituency in 1985, 1989 and 1994.
The removal of Mopidevi from the in-charge post angered the YSRC cadre and his followers. Over 150 YSRC municipal councillors, MPPs and ZPTC members in the region announced their resignation from their posts opposing the appointment of Evuri as the constituency in-charge. However, Mopidevi publicly welcomed the party leadership’s decision, and exhorted the party cadre to strive to accomplish the YSRC’s ‘Mission 175’.
Aiming for a hat-trick, Anagani has been actively participating in the TDP public outreach programmes. YSRC leaders are also coming strong on Anagani with illegal mining and corruption allegations against him, besides exposing his failures on various fronts.
“With both the YSRC and TDP candidates belonging to the same community, the ruling party’s vote bank in the constituency may split. However, it will be interesting to see whether Evuri will be able to gain the wholehearted support from the YSRC cadre and use it to his victory. In the changed political scenario, Repalle is set to witness a tough fight in the ensuing elections, opined a political analyst.