Can there be two municipalities located within a space of less than 10 km, and that too in the same Assembly constituency?
This is the case of Puttur and Nagari municipalities, which are situated on the Tamil Nadu border.
More than the duel between the parties, it is a no-holds-barred fight between TDP strongman Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu and YSR Congress leader R.K. Roja in both towns. Mr. Naidu has introduced his son Gali Jagadish to canvass for the party candidates, while Ms. Roja is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the victory of her candidates.
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Former minister R. Chenga Reddy (Congress) stays deserted, with his followers joining either of the two parties.
In Nagari, both the TDP and YSRC have fielded candidates in all 27 wards, while the Congress has had to face utter humiliation with a mere three nominations. With the seat being reserved for a BC woman, former municipal chairperson K.J. Kumar (YSRC) and ex-Sarpanch (TDP) A.K. Srihari have fielded their respective spouses K. Shanti and A.K. Vijayalakshmi.
Meanwhile, V.S.Vasudevan, son of former ZP Chairman V.K. Srinivasan, and a close follower of TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu entered the fray as an independent from Pudupet, with the TDP denying him the B-form.
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V.S. Bhanumurthy and K.J. Kumar, both Congressmen then, shared the municipal chairperson’s position for two-and-a-half years each, as part of an arrangement worked out after the Panchayat was upgraded to municipality in 2005. Now that both have fallen out with the other, each has a say in deciding the fate of the candidates’ now.
In Puttur, YSRC has fielded D.N. Elumalai, an erstwhile follower of Mr. Chenga Reddy, while the TDP has pitted former vice-chairman D.S. Ganesh against him as the chairman (BC Male) candidate.