ELURU/KADAPA: Call it a coincidence, but the party that wins the Rajampet Assembly constituency in Kadapa and Eluru segment in West Godavari has formed government in the State. This trend has been continuing for the last three decades and the TDP and YSRC are putting all-out efforts to win the seats.
The Congress and the TDP had won these seats in 2009 and 2014 respectively and formed governments. The historically significant Rajampet region is home to the famous Vontimitta temple (considered as the Bhadrachalam of Andhra Pradesh) and Sri Sowmyanatha Swamy temple at Nandalur. It is also the birthplace of famous poet/singer Annamacharya, who lived in the 15th Century.
On the political front, several bigwigs such as K Prabhavatamma, her husband K Marareddy and P Brahmaiah had won the seat. While Prabhavatamma won thrice from Rajampet, Brahmaiah served as a minister in the former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao’s cabinet.
Both the major parties are making all-out efforts to win the seat so that the sentiment may once again come true. Well before the elections, TDP’s sitting MLA Meda Mallikarjuna Reddy shifted loyalties to the YSRC. Though there was opposition from the YSRC aspirant A Amarnath Reddy, the party managed to convince him and has fielded Mallikarjuna Reddy from the segment.
“There are no differences between us (with Mallikarjuna) and we are working together. By winning Rajampet, we will pave way for the party to form government in the State,’’ Amarnath Reddy told TNIE.
The TDP too is heavily focussed on winning the segment. “Development initiatives of our government in the past five years will make us win Rajampet and form the next government,’’ TDP district party president R Srinivasulu Reddy said exuding confidence.
Similar is the scenario with the Eluru Assemly segment. “Every film distributor heavily relies on the performance of a movie in Eluru. If it is a hit in Eluru, it will be a hit elsewhere.
So is the case with the Eluru Assembly seat. The party that wins the seat will form the government,’’ a senior politician said.
