SRIKAKULAM : An interesting political fight is likely to surface in the Tekkali Assembly constituency after the Congress nominated former Union minister Killi Kruparani as their candidate.
It may be recalled that the TDP has decided to field sitting MLA and party’s State president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, belonging to the Velama community, as the candidate from the NDA.
Meanwhile, considering Tekkali Assembly segment as a prestigious constituency after Kuppam, the YSRC high command has nominated MLC Duvvada Srinivas, who hails from the Kalinga community.
Former Union minister Killi Kruparani joined the Congress a few days ago as the YSRC high command refused to give her the Tekkali ticket. Subsequently, the grand old party nominated her for the Tekkali Assembly constituency, thereby heating up the political atmosphere in the segment.
Tekkali is said to be one of the high-profile constituencies in the State as the TDP State president is vying for a hat-trick win. On the other hand, the YSRC top brass roped in Duvvada Srinivas after conducting a series of surveys. The leadership shifted Tekkali in-charge Perada Tilak to the Srikakulam Parliament constituency. However, the ruling party failed to persuade Killi Kruparani, who hails from Kalinga community, forcing her to jump ship to Congress in the presence of APCC chief YS Sharmila.
The Assembly segment comprises four mandals—Tekkali, Nandigam, Kotabommali and Santhabommali. Kalinga is the dominant community with more than 70,000 voters, followed by Velama, Reddika, Yadava, and fisherfolk.
The segment has been a TDP bastion since its inception with the party winning the seat eight times so far. It is worth noting that TDP founder NT Rama Rao had bagged the seat in the 1994 elections.
Kinjarapu family is known to have a grip on Tekkali and erstwhile Harishchandrapuram Assembly segments. Former Union minister Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu and his brother Atchannaidu emerged victorious from the Harishchandrapuram Assembly segment four and three times respectively before the constituency was merged into the Tekkali and Palasa Assembly segments in 2008.
Later, Atchannaidu moved to the Tekkali Assembly segment in 2009 and lost the seat to Korla Revathipathi of the Congress. He once again lost in 2009 by-poll against Korla Bharathi as Revathipathi passed away a few days after his victory as MLA.
In 2014 and 2019, Atchannaidu won against Duvvada Srinivas and Perada Tilak respectively.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior leader said, “There is a strong cadre base for the TDP as well as for the Kinjarapu family here. Though we have a huge population of the Kalinga community in our constituency, there are three leaders (Srinivas, Tilak, and Kruparani) of the same community. With no proper support, YSRC has been tasting defeat in this constituency. On the other hand, Atchannaidu has a solid vote bank, giving an edge for him to win the ensuing elections.”