The Anakapalli Lok Sabha constituency has become one of the most talked about constituencies in the State this election season. Political biggies like Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and JSP’s Pawan Kalyan from the NDA and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy from the ruling YSRCP taking it upon themselves to campaign for their candidates here.
While the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance fielded BJP’s C.M. Ramesh in the constituency, the YSRCP named Budi Muthyala Naidu as its candidate.
However, if the voting patterns of 2014 and 2019 are any indication, TDP-BJP-JSP alliance candidate Mr. Ramesh has an edge over his opponents in the Anakapalli Lok Sabha elections this year.
The combined votes of the TDP, BJP, and JSP in 2019 were 5,92,898, while Beeshetti Venkata Satyavathi from the YSRCP, who won the seat, got 5,86,226 votes. Dr. Satyavathi won by a majority of 89,192 votes against TDP candidate Adari Anand Kumar who got 4,97,034 votes.
Mr. Anand’s vote share was 41.3%, while Dr. Satyavati’s was 48.71%. She became the first woman MP of the constituency formed in 1962.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, TDP candidate Muttamsetty Srinivasa Rao won with 5,68,463 votes against YSRCP candidate Gudivada Amarnath, who secured 5,20,531 votes.
“Both in the 2014 and 2019 polls, alliance parties (TDP, BJP and JSP) were at the top. So, if this repeats and the voters don’t change their mood, this 2024 election will be a cakewalk for alliance candidate C.M. Ramesh, who will emerge victorious. If things turn upside down, Budi Muthyala Naidu, currently the Deputy Chief Minister of the State, will be lucky,” a senior political analyst told The Hindu.
As part of the seat-sharing agreement between the alliance parties, the BJP fielded C.M. Ramesh, a member of the Velama community from the Rayalaseema region, for the North Andhra constituency.
Following this, YSRCP announced Budi Muthyala Naidu’s candidacy for the constituency, a local candidate from Madugula, of the Velama community.
The YSRCP did not give sitting MP Dr. Satyavathi a second chance, considering the stiff competition and segment history.
Mr. Ramesh filed his nomination amidst much fanfare and in the presence of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a senior BJP leader who came from Delhi to support Ramesh in filing nominations.
On the other hand Budi Muthyala Naidu, who also filed his nomination, exuded confidence of winning the seat.
Recently Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy campaigned for Mr. Muthyala Naidu, while TDP’s Nara Chandrababu Naidu and JSP’s Pawan Kalyan campaigned for Mr. Ramesh in Anakapalli.
Vegi Venkatesh, the Congress candidate, had no senior Congress leaders, including APCC president Y.S. Sharmila Reddy, campaigning for Mr. Venkatesh until now.
Anakapalli Lok Sabha Constituency mostly chose between Congress and TDP candidates until YSRCP won the 2019 elections. Since 1962, Congress has won nine times, TDP five times and YSRCP once.
Uttarandhra Srijala Sravanti
Though the segment has many public issues, the completion of the main irrigation project, Uttarandhra Srijala Sravanti, is the main task. If this is completed, about eight lakh acres of agricultural lands will be irrigated in the north coastal districts such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Manyam-Parvathipuram, Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam, Paderu-Alluri Sitarama Raju, and supply of drinking water to 30 lakh people, besides provision of water to industries. The project is linked with the Polavaram Major Irrigation Project on the Godavari river.
The then Chief Minister, late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, laid the foundation stone for the Sravanti project on January 2, 2009. It was planned to draw about 8,000 cusecs of Godavari water every day and send it through canals for a distance of about 163 km to North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. However, he died in the same year. Later, none of his successors, including K. Roshaiah, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, completed it, as of date.
Graphics:
Headline: Anakapalli Lok Sabha poll stats
Intro: It is a general-category Lok Sabha segment comprising seven assembly segments: Madugula, Chodavaram, Anakapalli, Pendurthi, Elamanchili, Payakaraopeta (SC), and Narsipatnam.
Total voters: 12.77 lakh
Men: 6.23 lakh
Women: 6.53 lakh
Transgender: 38
Watch out for
C.M. Ramesh- BJP
Budi Muthyala Naidu- YSRCP
Vegi Venkatesh- Congress
