KURNOOL : The ruling YSRC is keen on retaining the Nandyal Assembly seat while the Opposition TDP is determined to throw a spanner in its attempts.
The TDP, in alliance with the Jana Sena and BJP, is pulling out all stops to wrest the seat.
Nandyal is head quarters of the newly formed district. It is famous for Nandi statues, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. The district has famous temples including Srisailam, Mahanandi, Ahobilam and Yaganti.
Nandyal at present is represented in the Assembly by YSRC’s Silpa Ravichandra Kishore Reddy alias Silpa Ravi Reddy who is testing his luck for the second time.
On the other hand, the TDP has nominated its old war-horse NMD Farooq. He is the senior most leader in the party and draws a lot of water with Muslim community. He was elected to the Assembly in 1985, 1994 and 1999 and served as minister and deputy speaker in the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh.
After the creation of Nandyal district, the 42-wards-Nandyal-town is facing several issues, particularly drinking water, narrow roads, traffic, underground drainage and floods in every rainy season.
These issues have a direct bearing on the way the voters might give their verdict in the election. All the parties made promises in the past to address them but little has been done.
Rains always submerge low lying colonies. As there is no proper drainage system, the town suddenly gets inundated, said G Rama Subbaiah, resident of SBI colony in the town. The drains are unable to cope with the heavy water inflows on account of rains. Saleem Nagar, Saraswathi Nagar, Harijanapeta, NGOs colony, Sai Baba Nagar, RTC Bus station and other low-lying areas in the town are the worst affected colonies.
The vehicular traffic becomes an involuntary victim to flooding. Apart from this the roadside encroachments exacerbate the problem.
With the setting up of several administrative offices in this new district headquarters, there is too much traffic that has to negotiate through the narrow roads.
The road stretches from Sanjeevaiah Nagar to Srinivasa Centre, Bus Stand Road to Burma circle, City Bus stand road, Bus stand road to Gandhi Chowk have become a test for the skills of the vehicle drivers. Shopping complexes, supermarkets, textile showrooms, schools, colleges, marriage halls and hospitals in the locality have no adequate parking space which is adding to the problem.
M Abraham, a private employee in Insurance Corporation said: “Another major problem in the town is flooding. Every summer brings with it drinking water problems. Water is drawn from Velugodu reservoir but it has now dried up which is a cause for concern.”
Meanwhile, sitting
MLA Silpa Ravichandra Kishore Reddy who is seeking re-election, is campaigning
that during his tenure there was development in the constituency.
He said he had almost fulfilled all the promises he had made like road-widening in various parts, construction of a flyover, laying of roads in colonies, and addressing drinking water issues.
On the other hand, TDP candidate NMD Farooq along with his alliance partners is speeding up his campaign. He is trying to jog the memories of the voters about the development he had brought about when he was the MLA.