Countdown has begun for the polling in 25 lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats in Seemandhra region on May 7. Though every seat is important for the parties, the contest in some constituencies is made interesting by some key players. Here is a look at the four such lok Sabha constituencies in Seemandhra:
Narsaraopeta (Guntur district)
This constituency provides a sharp contrast to its much prosperous neighbour Guntur. It is one of the pockets of dried up lands, barren hilly areas and rain deficient in coastal Andhra and resultant hardships for inhabitants. Faction violence only adds to the woes.
This time the constituency witnesses a clash between two big industrialists and businessmen Rayapati Sambasiva Rao of the TDP-BJP alliance and Ayodhya Rami Reddy of YSR Congress Party. The fight of the titans has pushed all the other contestants including the Congress candidate aside.
TDP, whose candidate M Venugopala Reddy had won the seat in 2009 with a narrow majority of 1,607 votes, is facing a tough challenge from a comparatively an inexperienced candidate. Though TDP president, Chandrababu Naidu, made some clever moves like inducting Congress sitting MP from Guntur R Sambasiva Rao and fielding him from this constituency, Jagan made a swift counter by bringing another resourceful challenger in Rami Reddy, the chairman of Ramky Group. Interestingly, Ayodhya Rami Reddy figures among the accused in Jagan’s disproportionate assets case. It is alleged that YSR Government had extended him a favor in Pharma City project in Visakhapatnam and as a quid pro quo he made investments in Jagan’s companies. The contest has become interesting by the fact that there are 2.5 lakh Kamma voters, the caste of TDP candidate while there are 1.5 lakh Reddy voters to which Jagan’s candidate belongs. About 1 lakh Muslim voters are likely to play a crucial role and they are mostly in favour of the YSRCP.
Visakhapatanam
Known as the port city, Steel City and for its naval base, Visakhapatnam is the industrial hub of coastal Andhra. The lok Sabha constituency is witnessing a big fight between Seemandhra BJP unit president K Hari Babu and YSR Congress honorary president Vijayalakshmi, mother of Jaganmohan Reddy. The constituency was in the limelight even before the elections were announced as the sitting Congress MP Purandeswari quit the party and joined the BJP seeking re-nomination. However, the BJP opted to field its president. It is one of the four seats that TDP left for the BJP in the region.
Everybody is surprised by Jagan’s move to field his mother from this urban constituency and also created a scare of sorts in the BJP as Hari Babu is not being seen strong enough to face Vijayalakshmi known as Vijayamma. However, after the impressive show of strength at NDA’s rally addressed by Narendra Modi, Chandrababu Naidu and film star Pawan Kalyan, the alliance is confident of scoring a surprise victory. Congress has fielded a local industrialist Bolisetti Satyanarayana. lok Satta and Aam Admi Party are also in the fray. But the fight is between TDP and YSRCP. In 2009 Purandeswari of the Congress had won with a margin of 66,686 votes against PRP’s Palla Srinivas Rao. TDP and BJP had come third and fourth respectively with total votes of 2,53,000.
Vijayawada
The commercial capital of Andhra, Vijayawada, known for its boiling summers, is also witnessing a keen battle between two businessmen. While the YSRCP has fielded Koneru Rajender Prasad, another accused in Jagan’s disproportionate assets case, the TDP has pitted another businessman Kesineni Srinivas. The Congress had to field a new comer Devineni Avinash as its sitting MP lagdapati Rajagopal (famous for his pepper spray use in lok Sabha during debate on Telangana Bill) has quit the party as well as active politics. With the Congress facing the heat over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the fight is mainly between TDP and YSRCP. lagdapati had won the seat in 2009 by a margin of 13,000.
Koneru Prasad Rao, who was once close to Chandrababu Naidu, before entering the close circle of YS Rajasekhara Reddy and arranging some overseas deals, is coming under attack from his opponents as an “economic offender”.
Nandyal
This lok Sabha constituency in Kurnool district has a historic significance. It is represented by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. However, today Congress, which has won the seat 13 times so far, has been eliminated from here. In the constituency which had given Rao the record breaking majority of 5.80 lakh votes, the Congress found it difficult to get a suitable candidate.
This time its unique feature is the only Muslim minority candidate fielded by the TDP in this lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh. However, significantly large Muslim electorate (12%) is confused after TDP joined the hands with the BJP. YSRCP has fielded the sitting Congress MP and prominent industrialist SPY Reddy as its candidate this time. SPY Reddy won the seat twice in 2004 and 2009.
Allagadda is one of the seven Assembly segments in this constituency where YSRCP’s candidate Shobha Nagi Reddy recently died in a road accident. But as her name remains in the list of candidates, she is likely to become the first candidate in the country to be elected posthumously.