Hyderabad
Like some other ruling celebration chief within the nation, YSR Congress celebration president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is eager on returning to energy for a second successive time period within the state meeting elections scheduled in early 2024.
Whereas Jagan is assured of coming again to energy once more using on his welfare agenda, his focus is now primarily on defeating his bête noire, Telugu Desam Occasion president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on his own residence turf – Kuppam meeting constituency in Chittoor district.
Hitherto, Kuppam has remained an invincible bastion of Naidu. He has been representing this constituency for the final seven consecutive phrases since 1989. Even in 2019 meeting elections, when Jagan Mohan Reddy was sweeping the whole state, Naidu received the Kuppam seat, although with a diminished margin of 30,722 votes, in comparison with the margin of 47,121 votes in 2014.
Such was the dominance of Naidu in Kuppam that he had been in a position to win the seat although he had hardly campaigned for himself within the constituency. His marketing campaign managers dealt with the whole electioneering within the constituency. Even when he was in energy, there weren’t many events when he visited the constituency.
However the state of affairs in Kuppam has modified fully within the final three years after the YSRCP got here to energy within the state. Greater than his personal constituency, Pulivendula in Kadapa district, Jagan has been focussing on Kuppam.
Whereas nurturing the constituency by way of growth, the chief minister has additionally began strengthening the YSRC in any respect ranges, in order to place an finish to the decades-long dominance of the TDP there.
“Jagan seems to be of the view that if he can conquer Kuppam within the subsequent elections, it might be the tip of the highway for the TDP president, who has vowed to enter the state meeting once more solely because the chief minister,” political analyst Ramakrishna Sangem mentioned.
A defeat in Kuppam will certainly be a setback for Naidu and the celebration could discover it tough to recuperate within the coming years, he mentioned.
Due to the particular focus laid by Jagan in Kuppam, the YSRCP had swept all of the native physique elections in Kuppam final 12 months. It had captured Kuppam municipality by successful 19 out of 25 wards, in addition to 75 out of 89 gram panchayats, 62 out of 65 block parishad seats and all 4 zilla parishad seats within the constituency.
“The individuals of Kuppam had reposed their religion within the YSRCP authorities which is implementing welfare schemes. They taught a lesson to Naidu for dishonest the backward lessons,” Jagan mentioned at a public assembly held at Kuppam on September 22.
The person behind YSRCP juggernaut
The person who’s striving to understand the ambition of Jagan to defeat Naidu in Kuppam is 33-year-old Krishna Raghava Jayendra Bharath, son of retired bureaucrat late Okay Chandramouli.
A 1990-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Chandramouli entered politics in 2014 after taking voluntary retirement from service. He joined YSRCP and contested in opposition to Naidu in 2014 and 2019 meeting elections. Nonetheless, he fell sick just a few days earlier than the polling and died of most cancers a 12 months later in April 2020.
After his loss of life, Bharath took over the celebration reins in Kuppam and has been nurturing the constituency since then. Jagan appointed him because the in-charge of the constituency and entrusted him with the duty of build up the celebration community throughout the constituency.
A post-graduate in rural growth, Bharath performed a key position within the YSRCP sweeping the native physique and municipal elections in Kuppam. “He has been doing glorious work for the celebration within the constituency. He’s younger and dynamic and has been staying put in Kuppam to supervise the implementation of welfare and developmental works,” the chief minister mentioned at his latest assembly at Kuppam.
Final 12 months, Jagan nominated Bharath as a legislative council member (MLC) and introduced that he can be the celebration candidate from Kuppam for the subsequent meeting elections. “Should you elect him as an MLA, I’ll make him a minister, in order that he’ll present what the true growth means for Kuppam,” Jagan mentioned.
Bharath belongs to Vannekula Kshatriya group, an OBC group, which constitutes practically 40% of the 213,000 citizens in Kuppam. “In truth, this seat belongs to the OBC, however has been usurped by Naidu, an higher caste chief. For the primary time, the OBCs will get an opportunity to signify the constituency within the meeting, should you elect Bharath,” Jagan mentioned.
Whereas it’s Bharath who’s doing loads of groundwork for the YSRCP in Kuppam, he’s getting the assist from state minister for power, forests and atmosphere Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, who represents adjoining Punganuru meeting constituency. Reddy is claimed to be taking care of extending assist from the federal government to the works in Kuppam.
Extra funds to Kuppam
For the primary time, the chief minister is spending enormous cash on the event and welfare works in Kuppam, although it occurs to be the constituency of his arch rival.
“We’re spending huge funds on schemes like Nadu-Nedu, village clinics and Rythu Bharosa Kendras, whereas village and ward secretariats have taken governance to the village stage in a clear method,” Bharath advised HT.
He mentioned the federal government had distributed advantages of welfare schemes price over ₹1100 crore in Kuppam, in addition to one other ₹550 crore price of developmental works. “The change may be very a lot seen within the constituency and other people even in hardcore TDP strongholds are welcoming my initiatives,” Bharath mentioned.
Among the works together with building of built-in official complicated, railway underbridge close to Reddipalli, Ramkuppam energy substation and sanction of ₹20 crore for Dravidian College. “Through the latest go to of the chief minister, we obtained one other ₹ 65 crore for numerous developmental works to Kuppam municipality,” he mentioned.
Naidu to decide on different constituency
Following the humiliating defeat of the TDP within the final 12 months’s native physique elections and regular development of the YSRCP in Kuppam, speculations had been rife that Naidu may selected a second constituency to contest the subsequent meeting elections.
“We don’t understand how a lot reality is there in that speculations, however it is going to assist the YSRCP extra in Kuppam,” Bharat mentioned.
Political analyst Ramakrishna Sangem mentioned there was nothing unsuitable in Naidu selecting a second constituency to contest. “Each prime chief within the nation has been doing the identical. Indira Gandhi had achieved it prior to now, Rahul Gandhi did the identical within the final Lok Sabha elections. Even Naidu’s father-in-law N T Rama Rao had contested from two seats. However, it is going to undoubtedly be an ethical victory for Jagan,” he mentioned.