Andhra Pradesh assembly elections: Narrow margin of defeat key reason for TDP picking Mangalagiri for Nara Lokesh

VIJAYAWADA: It is the lowest victory margin of YSRC in Mangalagiri, which has made chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu decide on fielding his son and political heir Nara Lokesh.
TDP lost to YSRC by 12 votes in 2014. Naidu, who scouted for some of the ‘safest’ constituencies to field Lokesh, who is making his electoral debut, finally picked Mangalagiri.Incidentally, Mangalagiri is not a TDP bastion. TDP has won only twice from Mangalagiri.
But TDP improved its performance in 2014 and hopes to better it now. With several IT companies and AIIMS coming up in Mangalagiri, a number of jobs have been generated. The TDP leadership hopes to win the seat hands down thanks to the support it expects from the youth and students. Lokesh, incidentally, is the IT minister. A mega IT park was recently inaugurated in the town. Several educational institutions of repute have also sprung up in the segment in the last five years.
Lokesh on Thursday went round the segment for a first- hand feel of voters’ pulse.
While the TDP banks on Mangalagiri thanks to the very thin margin of victory in 2014, a relook at the EC data on the last polls reveals some interesting facts.
While YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy secured the highest majority--74,256 votes--in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, Alla Ramakrishan Reddy scraped through with a 12-vote lead in Mangalagiri.
Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu won by 47,121 votes in Kuppam. His two deputies K E Krishna Murthy won Pattikonda (margin of 16,564) and N Chinarajappa secured Peddapuram (margin of 10,663 votes).
Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, who was shifted from Narasaraopet to Sathenapalli, won by a margin of 924 votes and his deputy Mandali Buddha Prasad won Avanigadda seat by a margin of 5,958 votes.
Among other notable winners, M Mani Gandhi won Kodumuru in Kurnool district by 52,384 votes, the second largest margin. TDP’s V Ramakrishna Babu secured Visakhapatnam North by 48,300 votes.
Five of the YSRC MLAs won by very thin margins-- Mangalagiri by 12 votes, Kambala Jogulu from Rajam (512 votes), Chirala Jaggireddi (714 votes), R K Roja from Nagari (858 votes) and M Sunil Kumar from Puthalapattu in Chittoor (902 votes).