Groupism in YCP may have benefited TDP candidate

SRIKAKULAM: Factors like groupism and rebel candidates within the YSRCP could turn into an advance for the TDP candidate in Amadalavalasa Assembly constituency.

While Speaker and sitting MLA Tammineni Sitaram is the YSRCP candidate, the TDP has fielded Kuna Ravi Kumar.

This constituency was formed in 1978 and since then till 2019, Assembly elections were held 11 times. In 2009 elections, Boddepalli Satyavathi won with 16,209 votes as Congress nominee by defeating Tammineni Sitaram of the Praja Rajyam Party. This was the highest majority recorded till that time in the constituency. Earlier in 1999 elections, Tammineni Sitaram won with 1511 votes’ majority as TDP candidate by defeating Congress nominee Boddepalli Satyavathi. In 2014 elections, TDP candidate Kuna Ravi Kumar won with a majority of 5,449 votes by defeating YSRCP nominee Tammineni Sitaram. In 2019 elections, YSRCP nominee Tammineni Sitaram won with 13,856 votes margin by defeating TDP candidate Kuna Ravi Kumar. Here both Tammineni Sitaram and Kuna Ravi Kumar are relatives. Ravi Kumar is the nephew of Tammineni Sitaram. In another connection between the two candidates, Sitaram has married Vani, the elder sister of Ravi Kumar. But Sitaram had earlier left the TDP and joined the PRP. Later, he joined the YSRCP. During the campaign for the 2024 Assembly polls, both the YSRCP and TDP candidates concentrated on each and every village, colony and habitation by deploying their men to attract votes

The NDA is expecting victory from the constituency as the ruling YSRCP faced the problems of rebel trouble and groupism. In addition, Sitaram failed to fulfill his assurances related to the sugar factory issue, widening of roads in Amadalavalasa town, modernisation of Narayanapuram anicut etc. The NDA has exposed the failures of the YSRCP candidate during the campaign. In this constituency, total voters are 1,93,858. Of them 1,54,255 voters cast their votes recording a polling percentage of 81.42.

Another favourable aspect for the NDA is YSRCP candidate Tammineni Sitaram is having differences with his own party leaders. In this backdrop, S Gandhi contested from here as rebel candidate. However, it remains to be seen how many votes the rebel candidate splits.

Currently, the YSRCP candidate and the NDA nominee are calculating and analysing voting trend village wise in Amadalavalasa, Ponduru, Burja and Sarubujjili mandals and also Amadalavalasa town area.

Another interesting aspect is the candidates representing the YSRCP, TDP and the Independent – all belong to the Kalinga community which forms the second largest voters chunk. Members of Turpu Kapu community are the highest number of voters in the constituency. The candidate who bags the highest number of votes from Turpu Kapu community is likely to emerge victorious in the

election.