Lok Sabha elections 2019: Arch-rivals to sweat it out in Narasaraopeta

GUNTUR: Veterans and arch-rivals Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Kanna Lakshminarayana are going to fight a face-to-face battle for the first time in their decades of political career for the Narasaraopet Parliament seat. A younger aspirant is also in the fray making the fight a triangular contest. Sitting MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (75) of TDP is contesting the seat for the second time, while BJP State chief Kanna Lakshminarayana (63) is his primary opponent.

Though both started their political career with the Congress, the duo were at loggerheads all through their stint with the party. They levelled numerous allegations against each other and maintained their groups. Later, they left the party and joined the TDP and the BJP. 

Narasaraopeta MP constituency is mainly dominated by Kamma, Reddy and Kapu communities and the triangular election battle is registering between two Kamma candidates Sambasiva Rao and Lavu Srikrishnadevaraya (YSRC) and Kapu candidate Lakshminarayana. 

After the snapping of ties between the TDP and the BJP, the long-time rivals are now taking on each other for the first time from Narasaraopeta Parliament constituency. The rivalry between the two started in 1989 when Sambasiva Rao found fault with affidavits filed by Lakshminarayana, who contested for Pedakurapadu MLA seat in 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004, and, reportedly, lodged a complaint with the Central Information Commission (CIC). 

Further, Sambasiva Rao demanded the Congress to suspend Lakshminarayana from the party and also reportedly wrote a letter to then party supremo Sonia Gandhi alleging that the latter had accumulated properties illegally. Their rivalry reached its peak in 2005 when Kanna’s son Nagaraju and Sambasiva Rao’s younger brother’s son Rayapati Mohan Saikrishna contested for Mayor post of Guntur Municipal Corporation.

Then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy later decided to split the power into two spells and favoured the first term to Kanna Lakshminarayana’s son Nagaraju. 

At the time, PCC chief D Srinivas hdaclearly stated that no one had the right to discuss the party’s internal affairs in the public and that such issues must be dealt within the party. Meanwhile, YSR Congress fielded youngster and Vignan Group vice-chairman Lavu Srikrishnadevaraya as its Narasaraopet MP candidate. 

Srikrishnadevaraya is entering the political arena for the first time as an MP candidate from the YSRC. He has been putting up in Narasaraopet for the past six months after being announced by the YSRC chief as Narasaraopeta Parliament incharge.  

The Jana Sena Party is yet to announce its candidate for the constituency. According to available data, Narasaraopeta has 2.48 lakh Kamma voters, 1.61 lakh Reddy voters and 1.44 lakh Kapu voters of the total 14.91 lakh electors.