Tough battle on the cards in Ongole Assembly segment

  A keenly contested battle is on the cards for the Ongole Assembly seat.

ONGOLE:  A keenly contested battle is on the cards for the Ongole Assembly seat. The main contenders–the TDP MLA Damacharla Janardhan Rao and former minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy of the YSRC–are putting all out efforts to win the seat. The Jana Sena’s Shaik Diaz, with support from the Left parties and the BSP, is also in the poll fray.In 2014, Damacharla and Balineni had fought for the constituency with the TDP contender winning it with the support of the BJP and the Jana Sena. 

The Congress has won the seat, one of the 12 in Prakasam district, seven times, the TDP four, and independent candidates twice. This year, the Ongole election has already become the most expensive one in the State with each candidate reportedly spending `70 lakh. Allegedly, distribution of liquor and money is very high in the district and specials teams formed to check the illegal activity have not been of much help.   

This time, the ruling party may find it tough as it has lost the support of the Jana Sena and the BJP. However, the TDP candidate said it was the goodwill earned by the State government due to its welfare schemes and the development activities he took up during his tenure that would win him the seat.
Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, who has won from the constituency four times on Congress tickets, is likely to give a tough battle to his counterpart, D Janardhan.

He said the YSRC’s ‘navaratnalu’ programme and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s good image would guarantee his victory. Meanwhile, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, who was previously with the TDP, will be contesting for the Ongole Parliament seat on YSR Congress ticket. The leader is up against Telugu Desam’s Sidda Raghava Rao, the State’s Forest Minister. 

Lack of water major issue
Drinking water problem is a major issue as all the candidates have assured the locals to resolve it. Since January, many areas of the segment are being supplied water once in four days.

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