GUNTUR: After a gap of 39 years, the TDP has bagged Mangalagiri Assembly seat, and Nara Lokesh won from the segment with a thumping majority of 90,160 votes. After 22 rounds of counting, Lokesh secured 16,5512 votes, while his nearest rival Murugudu Lavanya of YSRC got 75,352 votes.
Mangalagiri, a town between Vijayawada and Guntur, is a place with a rich political history, and a key player in the State’s political landscape.
Of the total 175 Assembly constituencies in the State, the election outcome of Mangalagiri is one of the most closely watched segments as the TDP general secretary is in the fray. The constituency has an electorate of over 2.68 lakh, and it is a battleground for significant political forces.
The TDP, a relatively new entrant in 1980s, won the Assembly seat twice in 1983 and 1985. The YSRC claimed the seat in both 2014 and 2019 after the State bifurcation, underlining its political dominance. In the last elections, Lokesh suffered a defeat, losing to YSRC’s Alla Ramakrishna Reddy by a slender margin of 5,000 votes. This time, Lokesh, determined to turn the tables, put in all efforts, and campaigned intensely to reach out to the people, besides being available to people of the constituency all the time.
After his Yuva Galam Padayatra across the State, Lokesh emerged as a strong leader and this helped boost his image among the people of Mangalagiri. Both his mother Nara Bhuvaneswari and wife Nara Brahmani also campaigned for his victory. On the other hand, local issues in Mangalagiri, such as the YSRC government’s controversial decision to shift the capital from Amaravati, have been significant points of contention. This move has disrupted the local economy and created a sense of betrayal among the people.
Lokesh has leveraged this discontent, promising to address these issues and bring development to the region. On the other hand, the political turn of events in the constituency also did not help the YSRC, including the resignation of Alla from the YSRC and joining Congress, and later returning to the party fold.