NELLORE: While suspended rebel YSRC MLA Anam Ramanarayana Reddy is trying to garner people’s support in the Atmakur Assembly constituency to contest the ensuing elections on a TDP ticket, sitting YSRC MLA Mekapati Vikram Reddy has intensified his efforts to retain the seat by actively taking part in the Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam programme.
Anam, a sitting MLA of Venkatagiri, represented the Atmakur segment in the State Assembly in 2009 and also maintained his own cadre. Traditionally, Atmakur has been a stronghold of Congress since the formation of the constituency in 1952. The segment comprises Atmakur, Ananthasagaram, Anumasamudram Peta, Marripadu, Chejarla and Sangam mandals.
Out of the six mandals in the segment, three are upland areas and it gets water from the Somasila reservoir for both irrigation and drinking needs. The constituency has a total population of 2,61,850. In 2014, Mekapati Goutham Reddy was elected from Atmakur on the YSRC ticket with 91,686 votes. He retained the seat in 2019 with a majority of 22,276 votes. With the sudden demise of Goutham Reddy, a bypoll was necessitated. Vikram Reddy, brother of Goutham Reddy, got elected from the constituency in the by-election in 2022.
Now, TDP cadre in the segment, which has been waiting for a strong leader, is ready to work for the victory of Anam if the party leadership allows him the seat. The TDP is determined the win a maximum number of seats in the ensuing elections in Nellore district to regain its lost glory.
On the other hand, Vikram Reddy is keen on winning the seat for the second consecutive time. A proposal has also been sent to the Centre to develop Somasila, AS Peta, Sangam and Chejarla as major tourist destinations with `163 crore.
As part of his initiatives to reach out to the people, he has set up Atmakur Development Forum (ADF) to ensure all-round development of the segment. The aim of the ADF is to harness the power of collective action by bringing together the socially conscious and impact-oriented minds to solve the socio-economic issues being faced by the people of Atmakur.
As both Anam and Mekapati families have considerable influence in the constituency, Atmakur is set to witness a tough fight in the ensuing elections if the ruling YSRC and the Opposition TDP allot tickets to Ramanarayana Reddy and Vikram Reddy, opined a political analyst.