VISAKHAPATNAM: Already dominating the political horizon in Gajuwaka, the scions of Palla and Gudivada families have now locked their horns for 2024 elections.
While former MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao is contesting as Telugu Desam nominee, IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath began his election campaign as YSRC candidate from the constituency.
Gajuwaka constituency was formed in 2008 after carving out two mandals—Gajuwaka and Pedagantyada—which were then part of Visakhapatnam-II and Pendurthi assembly segments respectively. After the formation of Gajuwaka, Praja Rajyam scored a win in the first election to the constituency in 2009 when its nominee Chintalapudi Venkata Ramaiah was elected. In the 2014 elections, Palla Srinivasa Rao won the elections as TDP nominee followed by YSRC candidate Tippala Nagireddy in the 2019 elections.
Gudivada family’s political journey dates back to Gudivada Appanna, Amarnath’s grandfather, who was elected from Pendurthi as Congress candidate in 1978. A decade later, Gurunadha Rao took forward his father’s legacy and was elected from Pendurthi in 1989 and later from Anakapalle Lok Sabha segment in 1998.
On the other hand, Tippala Gurumurthi Reddy, who was the first from the family to get elected as MLA and served as Gajuwaka municipal chairperson twice, won against Amarnath’s mother Gudivada Nagamani during the 2004 Assembly elections in Pendurthi, giving a head start to Nagireddy.
It is worth noting that Nagireddy’s son and daughter-in-law are currently serving as GVMC corporators.
Meanwhile, making their mark in politics, Palla Simhachalam, father of Srinivasa Rao and a noted trade union leader, was elected from Visakhapatnam-II in 1994.
Gajuwaka assembly constituency hogged limelight in the 2019 elections as Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan was defeated by YSRC nominee Tippala Nagireddy. The giant killer, however, was replaced by Amarnath in Gajuwaka Assembly segment as YSRC nominee.
There have been speculations over YSRC nominee for Gajuwaka till Amarnath, who is representing Anakapalli in the Assembly, was named as the party candidate. He was replaced by Malasala Bharat who has been appointed as the YSRC coordinator for Anakapalli.
Since then there have been speculations about the likely Assembly constituencies, including Pendurthi and Chodavaram, from where Amarnath will be contesting.
However, after he was appointed as the party deputy regional coordinator of the combined Visakhapatnam district, it was expected that Amarnath would be limited to the party activities. To diffuse dissidence in Gajuwaka constituency, YSRC finally opted for Amarnath for the seat. The ruling party took this decision was taken after Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan choosing Pithapuram as his battle ground for the 2024 elections.
Telugu Desam has all along been very firm on its candidate for Gajuwaka. It finalised Palla Srinivasa Rao even before YSRC finalised its nominee.
Both Srinivasa Rao and Amarnath have been former MLAs and had bitter experiences in Lok Sabha elections. While Srinivasa Rao contested from Visakhapatnam in 2009 as Praja Rajyam candidate, Amarnath contested from Anakapalli constituency in 2014 as YSRC nominee.
PRP scored first win after formation of Gajuwaka
After the formation of Gajuwaka, Praja Rajyam (PRP) scored a win in the first election to the constituency in 2009 when its nominee Chintalapudi Venkata Ramaiah was elected. Gajuwaka assembly constituency hogged limelight in the 2019 elections as JSP chief Pawan Kalyan was defeated by YSRC nominee Tippala Nagireddy. The giant killer, however, was replaced by Gudivada Amarnath in Gajuwaka segment as YSRC nominee for the upcoming elections