Key contests in Andhra Pradesh polls

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: There are a number of “key constituencies” out of 294 Assembly and 42 Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh. But only a few of them are the real eye-catchers as the “bigwigs” of the state’s political class will be seeking their fortunes yet again from those constituencies.
Curiosity will, however, be on three segments – two from where the Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi is fighting his maiden electoral battle with the promise of “ushering in a change” and another where a former Indian Administrative Service officer N Jayaprakash Narayan is in the fray with the promise of “cleansing the rotten political system.”
The constituencies from where the likes of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu are contesting too are “prime” segments but they will hit headlines only if the main contenders – by any (remote) chance – lose the election.
Chiranjeevi, as a devotional sentiment, is contesting from temple-town Tirupati from where he also launched his political party Praja Rajyam in August last. The second segment is Palakollu in his native West Godavari district, under which falls Mogalturu, the village where he was born and brought up.
It should be a smooth sailing for him in both the places. Tirupati has a sizeable ‘Balija’ population, a community to which Chiru belongs. The native sentiment should work in his favour in Palakollu.
Jayaprakash Narayan, contesting from the newly-carved out Kukatpally Assembly constituency in Greater Hyderabad, banks on the votes of “settlers,” called so because they are “non-locals” who came from other parts of “Andhra” into “Telangana.”
Pulivendula in Kadapa district is Rajasekhara Reddy’s fiefdom while Chandrababu turned Kuppam in Chittoor district into his bastion.
Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who has been in the eye of an Opposition storm for “amassing wealth” through “illegal means” by “breaking many laws”, jumped into active politics and is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time from Kadapa. Rajasekhara Reddy vacated the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in 1999 for his younger brother Vivekananda Reddy who, in turn, vacated it for Jagan this time.
Union minister S Jaipal Reddy has shifted to a new constituency yet again. In 2004 he won from Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district but lost the segment in delimitation. He is now seeking his fortunes from the newly-formed Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Ranga Reddy district. “My native village is just a few kilometers from Chevella. So, I can’t be a non-local here,” he argues even as there is strong opposition within the Congress to his candidature.
Another Union minister Daggubati Purandareswari also had to shift to a new Lok Sabha constituency, Visakhapatnam, this time as the one she represented in 2004, Bapatla, fell in the reserve category in the delimitation. She was reluctant to contest from Vizag but the Congress high command simply ignored her plea for a preferred constituency. The “NTR’s daughter” tag alone could be the saving grace for her, given the intense groupism in the Congress in the port city.
Renuka Choudary, another Union minister, is seeking re-election from Khammam. The Congress is not strong in this region, marred by groupism, but the opposition too is in the same position.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief and former Union minister K Chandrasekhar Rao moved to Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha constituency this time from Karimnagar, a seat he won in 2004, 2006 and 2008 – the last time with a bare margin in the second bye-election that he caused in less than two years. Mahbubnagar is not known to be a TRS stronghold and as such KCR finds himself on a loose wicket. Though KCR wanted to contest from his native Medak constituency, he had to give up for the sake of his “sister” actress Vijayasanthi, who merged her Talli Telangana Party with the TRS. For Vijayasanthi this is the first election though she began her political journey more than a decade ago with the BJP.
Two film stars of yesteryears, U V Krishnam Raju and M Murali Mohan, are locking horns with each other in Rajahmundry Lok Sabha segment. Krishnam Raju served as Union minister in the A B Vajpayee government and quit BJP to join Praja Rajyam Party on the eve of the elections. Murali Mohan has been an active member of the TDP for many years now but is facing the electorate for the first time. Here, the sitting MP Undavalli Arun Kumar of the Congress is also a strong candidate making it a keen triangular contest.
As the No. 2 in the Telugu Desam Party, T Devender Goud had always had a cakewalk in the three Assembly elections that he faced. By quitting the TDP in June last, forming his own political outfit Nava Telangana Party and subsequently merging it with the new-born Praja Rajyam Party, Goud lost much of his clout but he is now testing his luck by contesting to the Lok Sabha (Malkajgiri) and the state Assembly (Ibrahimpatnam) simultaneously. That nothing much is being talked about him these days is a sign of the things in store for Goud, his adversaries point out. He sure looks to be facing a rough weather.
Actress Jayasudha joined the Congress a few months ago and bagged the Secunderabad Assembly ticket. A strong presence of Christian voters (about 15 per cent), who could influence the outcome here, is the USP that Jayasudha is trying to bank upon.
Chiranjeevi, while keeping his two brothers and actors Nagendra Babu and Pavan Kalyan away from the electoral battle, fielded his brother-in-law and Man Friday Allu Aravind for the Lok Sabha from Anakapalle constituency, adjoining Visakhapatnam. His hopes are pinned on the community base in the constituency.
The PRP nominated two former IAS officers for the Lok Sabha contest – Vara Prasad from Tirupati (SC) and Thota Chandrasekhar from Guntur. Retired IPS officer D T Naik of PRP is fighting the Lok Sabha election from Mahbubabad (ST) against a former police constable Balram Naik of Congress, making it an interesting tussle.