Tycoons to sweat it out in Narasaraopet

The segment has the highest number of hypersensitive polling booths in the district

The stony uplands of Palnadu, hilly areas surrounding Narasaraopet and the plains of Sattenapalli comprise Narasaraopet Lok Sabha constituency. A melting cauldron of faction politics, the constituency has witnessed some intriguing battles between Congress and Telugu Desam in the past.

In the searing heat when day temperatures often touch 45 degree Celsius, the two main contenders, Ayodhya Rami Reddy (YSRC) and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (TDP) are gearing up to sweat it out in the ultimate battlefield of Palnadu. Adding a touch of nostalgia is senior leader Kasu Krishna Reddy who is tipped to enter the fray as Congress candidate.

Mr. Rami Reddy, the chairman of Ramky Group, is the youthful face of YSRC and he is already into business. He had ‘reached out’ to party leaders and helped them in the recent local body elections.

Mr. Sambasiva Rao, a seasoned campaigner, is hoping to consolidate on the advantage of having four sitting MLAs and has started his campaign with vigour. Mr. Krishna Reddy is hoping that the family legacy would bail him out.

The delimitation exercise carried out in 2009 changed the demographic profile of the constituency. Reddy-dominant Assembly constituencies of Markapur, Kambham and Darsi in Prakasam district, have been merged in Ongole Parliamentary constituency. Chilakaluripet, Sattenapalli and Pedakurapadu Assembly segments, having a fair population of Kamma voters, have been merged in Narasaraopet Lok Sabha segment. Gurazala, Vinukonda, Narasaraopet and Macherla Assembly segments have been retained. Kamma voters constitute about 2.5 lakh voters, followed by Reddy (1.5 lakh voters), Muslims (1lakh) and the presence of a significant number of BCs including Yadava and Vaddera, Muslims and SC voters make it an interesting contest.

In the 2009 elections, the guile of Vallabhaneni Balashowry (Congress) could not stop a resurgent TDP wresting the seat after a gap of 13 years. Modugula Venugopala Reddy, who made a last minute entry into TDP, won by a majority of just 1,607 votes.

Congress paid the price for changing sitting MLAs and lost four seats (Pedakurapadu, Gurazala, Vinukonda and Chilakaluripet), indicating a trend of polarisation of votes on caste lines. The constituency consists of backward mandals plagued by dearth of employment opportunities.

Every election, the police keep a hawk eye on the villages and in some areas, polling ends at 4 p.m.