TDP cadres on cloud nine over high poll percentage in Kuppam

Tirupati : Kuppam, a remote constituency in Chittoor district, garnered attention by recording a high voter turnout in the polls held on May 13. The constituency, represented by TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu for seven consecutive terms since 1989, saw poll percentage of 89.88, with some booths even reporting 100 per cent turnout.

This surge in voter participation has reinforced the confidence of TDP supporters, who believe this could translate to a majority of over 70,000 votes for Naidu, edging closer to their target of a one lakh vote majority.

While Naidu’s victory in his eighth successive election in Kuppam seems certain to the TDP cadres, the ruling YSRCP had ramped up pressure on TDP over the past 2-3 years with its campaign slogan ‘Why not Kuppam?’ aiming for a sweep of all 175 seats in the state.

The YSRCP’s efforts to challenge Naidu include highlighting their previous victories in panchayat and municipal elections and reducing Naidu’s winning margin to just over 30,000 votes in the 2019 elections. This has injected a sense of urgency and competitiveness into the campaign.

Amid YSRCP’s efforts to defeat him, Naidu visited the constituency in regular intervals, rallying his party workers who have faced attacks by YSRCP supporters. He assigned MLC Dr K Srikanth, along with constituency in-charge P S Munirathnam, former MLC Gounivari Srinivasulu and his PA P Manohar the task of spearheading the coordination efforts. This team worked tirelessly to counter the YSRCP’s influence and ensure a strong performance for TDP. The TDP cadres, driven by a sense of vengeance, focused on securing a majority of almost one lakh votes for Naidu. Naidu himself set ambitious majority targets for booth in-charges.

In addition, his spouse Bhuvaneswari promised to adopt the booth which gets maximum majority and will develop its limits. This motivated approach resulted in an unprecedented polling percentage nearing 90 percent.

A TDP supporter noted that about 85 to 90 per cent of the 18,000 new youth voters likely supported TDP and even women voters, contrary to YSRCP expectations, leaned towards Naidu. This trend suggests Naidu’s majority could exceed 70,000 votes this time.

MLC Srikanth, speaking to the media, criticised the lack of development in the constituency over the past five years and accused MLC Bharath and minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy of corruption. He also condemned YSRCP for attempting to reduce the polling percentage through booth attacks, which TDP leaders and cadres strongly resisted.

Srikanth issued a challenge, stating he would resign as MLC and leave Kuppam if Bharath wins. He also questioned if Bharath would resign as MLC if he loses, proposing that they both take an oath on this challenge at the Tirupati Gangamma temple in Kuppam which exuded his confidence on the poll outcome.