Northern Andhra turns battleground in AP elections  

It was a place for a historical war between two empires 

••Chandrababu and Jagan shifted focus to three districts 

Patibandla Srinivas

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Amaravati: The region of Northern Andhra is going to become a battleground in the forthcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh. The leaders of the main political parties TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy shifted their whole focus in the Northern Andhra region. As many as 34 Assembly segments are in the three districts Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Vishakapatnam under the purview of the region.

The YSR Congress has taken an unexpected stand in the name of three capitals after coming to power in the 2019 elections by involving Northern Andhra also into the capital location. Now it is not on the main agenda of any political party but the YSR Congress wants to make the Northern Andhra region as the battleground for the 2024 elections.

As per the reports, the YSR Congress believes that it has a clear-cut advantage in the Rayalaseema districts. However, pthe party high command realised that it may not get a landslide victory like in the previous election in the region. The TDP improved its chances of reaching almost equal to the YSR Congress.  

Moreover, the YSR Congress does not have much hope in the central area of the state from the two Godavari districts to the Guntur district. Taking into consideration internal assessments, the YSR Congress shifted its focus to the three districts Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam.

The YSR Congress registered a landslide victory in the three districts in the 2019 elections. YSR Congress won 8 MLA seats out of 10 seats in Srikakulam district. The YSR Congress won a total of 9 seats in Vizianagaram district. Besides, the TDP got only 4 MLA seats in Visakhapatnam district in a total of 15 Assembly segments. Interestingly the voters of Vizag city extended support for TDP in 4 MLA seats.  

Against this backdrop, the TDP needs a clear advantage in the region. Already the party has positive feedback in the majority segments. As per the reports, there are some lapses in the limits of Vizianagarma and Araku Lok Sabha seats. Similarly a slight negative talk in three MLA seats in Srikakulam district.

Taking into consideration the feedback, both parties are ready to make plans to get the upper hand. The TDP is confident in majority seats in the region even though its leadership wants to counter the plans of the YSR Congress. The TDP leadership finalised a plan to set right the situation not even wanting to give a single inch of advantage, said former MLC and senior TDP leader AS Ramakrishna. He further hoped that the TDP would win majority seats in the Northern region also by sharing his experience in the recent MLC election result when the TDP candidate won under his supervision of election coordination work.