Patibandla Srinivas
Amaravati: The contest in two Lok Sabha segments in Rayalaseema districts—Kadapa and Rajampet—is now a hot topic everywhere and it can be treated as a mood of Rayalaseema.
Former Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president YS Sharmila Reddy both are contesting from Rajampet and Kadapa Lok Sabha segments in Rayalaseema respectively. Presently, everyone is discussing the results of the two constituencies and there is a possibility of cross-voting in favour of the two candidates.
YS Sharmila, sister of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is contesting on the Congress ticket as a rival for YSR Congress. She is claiming to be the true successor of late former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy. She is almost fighting against his brother YS Jagan accusing his cousin Kadapa Lok Sabha MP candidate YS Avinash Reddy for the murder of YS Vivekanada Reddy who is the brother of Rajasekhar Reddy.
The family members of YS Vivekananda Reddy are directly alleging that YS Avinash is behind the murder. They are criticising Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for shielding Avinash Reddy. YS Sunita Reddy daughter of YS Vivekananda Reddy is fighting against the entire team of YS Jagan and YSR Congress.
Read this article also
As a result, the contest has turned out to be an interesting election across the Telugu states and all political parties. YS Sharmila is directly asking the people of Kadapa whether they vote for Rajasekhar Reddy’s daughter or the killer of Vivekananda Reddy.
The entire political atmosphere and banter of criticism by the two parties are raising heat along with the scorching hot weather conditions in the State. Indeed, Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly segments both are favourable for the family members of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. So far late YS Rajasekhar Reddy was elected four times for Kadapa Lok Sabha.
Later YS Vivekananda Reddy, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and YS Avinash Reddy were elected for two terms each.
Similarly, YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s family members have been elected continuously since 1978 from the Pulivendula Assembly segment. YS Rajasekhar Reddy was elected six times since 1978 and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was elected for the last two terms. Pulivendula Assembly is also under the purview of Kadapa Lok Sabha.
Now the people of Kadapa are facing a strange situation. The daughter and the son of YS Rajasekhar Reddy are asking for votes from different parties.
As per the ground reports, YS Sharmila is likely to get votes from YSR Congress. The cross-voting situation has prevailed in Kadapa Lok Sabha and the voters may choose one vote for YS Jagan for Pulivendula Assembly candidate and one vote for YS Sharmila. But Sharmila does not have Assembly candidates’ support in Badvel, Kamalapuram, Kadapa, Mydukur, Jammalamadugu and Proddatur segments under the purview of Kadapa Lok Sabha. But no one knows how the people of Kadapa Lok Sabha segment will react to the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy since once he was close to the majority of people.
Besides, Rajampet Lok Sabha is another interesting contest in Andhra Pradesh elections. Former Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy is contesting from Rajampet Lok Sabha on the BJP ticket. Indeed, his father N Amaranath Reddy, who was a state minister in PV Narasimha Rao’s cabinet in AP and had a good reputation in Chittoor district politics. Kirankumar Reddy entered politics as a successor of Amarnath Reddy. He was the last Chief Minister to the combined State of Andhra Pradesh.
The former cricketer joined the BJP and he is testing luck in the second innings of his political career as MP candidate from Rajampet as NDA candidate with the support of TDP and Jana Sena.
Indeed, he is facing MP P Mithun Reddy of YSRCP Congress’s strong candidate.
The TDP has a strong vote bank in some areas in the constituency limits. Some leaders of the YSR Congress are also likely to extend their support indirectly for Kirankumar Reddy. The Assembly segments Rajampet, Koduru, Rayachoti, Thamballapalle, Pileru, Madanapalle and Punganur are under the purview of Rajampet Lok Sabha segment. If the majority of Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy is confined to nominal margin in Punganur Assembly limits, Kirankumar Reddy has a chance to win the election, said Devineni Shankar Naidu of TDP founder member. He said there is a cross-voting factor to help Kirankumar Reddy to win the election.
