GUNTUR: Determined to retain Tadikonda (SC reserved) constituency in Guntur district in the ensuing Assembly elections, the YSRC leadership has appointed former minister Mekathoti Sucharitha, a three-time MLA from Prathipadu, as its incharge.
Tadikonda, one of the seven Assembly segments in Guntur Lok Sabha constituency, has a lot of political significance as it is located in the capital region Amaravati.
YSRC candidate Undavalli Sridevi won from Tadikonda in the last elections against Tenali Sravan Kumar of TDP. Soon after being elected from Tadikonda, Sridevi had faced dissent from the YSRC cadre. The appointment of Dokka Manikya Varaprasad as an additional coordinator of the constituency and later the district YSRC incharge seemed to have not yielded the desired results in strengthening the party in Tadikonda. Later, the YSRC leadership had suspended Sridevi for allegedly cross voting in the MLC election and she joined TDP.
Though Dokka, a two-time MLA from Tadikonda, was expected to be given the MLA ticket, YSRC had appointed former Home minister Sucharitha as the constituency incharge to everyone’s surprise, Sucharitha began her political journey as a Congress MLA from Prathipadu in 2009 and later she joined the YSRC. She was again elected as Prathipadu MLA in the 2012 byelection. Despite facing defeat in the 2014 elections, she won the trust of YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and achieved victory in the last elections from Prathipadu.
As part of ‘Mission 175’, the YSRC leadership has started making strategic changes in the erstwhile undivided Guntur district, and several sitting MLAs have been shifted.
Political analysts are of the view that the victory in Tadikonda is not going to be a cake walk for the YSRC as farmers and other sections of people in the capital region Amaravati are against the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government for its decision to set up three capitals as part of its decentralisation and inclusive development plan.
However, the recent Samajika Sadhikara Yatra of the YSRC evoked a tremendous response from people in Tadikonda.
The TDP is yet to announce its candidate for Tadikonda. It is speculated that Sridevi may be fielded from Bapatla Lok Sabha seat. It is not sure whether the TDP will select Sravan Kumar again or opt for a new face. Whoever may be the TDP candidate, Tadikonda is set to witness a tough contest as the Amaravati capital issue is a major factor in the election outcome, observed an analyst.