All eyes are on the Pedana Assembly constituency, a TDP bastion since the formation of the party and the only segment in which aspirants from the Gouda community contest for it.
An air of tension is palpable in the party as two-time MP (Machilipatnam) Konakalla Narayana is determined to contest again.
Sitting MLA Kagita Venkata Rao has reportedly opted out of the race in favour of his son for the seat. Mr. Venkata Rao has been the TDP candidate since 1985 and elected for four times. The TDP’s plan of fielding Vangaveeti Radhakrishna for the Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency is likely to serve two purposes: tapping the votes of the Kapu community in East Krishna and entertaining the wish of Mr. Narayana to contest from the Assembly segment. The YSRCP has fielded Jogi Ramesh belonging to the Gouda community and non-local while the Jana Sena Party fielded Ankem Lakshmi Srinivas making it a triangle fight. The YSRCP has a setback within the party in the wake of the rejection of Uppla Rama Prasad, Pedana in-charge, a key aspirant since 2014 elections.Mr. Lakshmi Srinivas is from the Kapu community and one of the partners in a vernacular news channel. The Kapu vote bank is an asset for him. The constituency has 1,64,171 votes.
The women voters, 82,213, will play a key role in deciding the outcome.
