While the YSR Congress Party has claimed to have ensured social justice by reaching out to downtrodden sections, the list of candidates released by the YSR Congress Party president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy gave a lion’s share of seats to the Reddy community, more so in the eastern Rayalaseema region.
Barring the three contiguous SC reserved seats viz., Satyavedu, Sullurpeta and Gudur in Tirupati district, all the other four went into the kitty of Reddy community, such as Chevireddy Mohith Reddy (Chandragiri), Bhumana Abhinay Reddy (Tirupati), Biyyapu Madhusudhan Reddy (Srikalahasti) and R.K. Roja (Nagari). The Tirupati Lok Sabha seat reserved to SC community was re-allotted to Maddila Gurumoorthy, who had won the by-election held in 2021.
In Nellore district, the party strategically allotted the Nellore city seat to a Muslim candidate Khaleel Ahmed and Kandukur to a BC, Burra Madhusudhan Yadav. But, the remaining seven were bagged by the dominant community, such as Adala Prabhakar Reddy (Nellore rural), N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy (Kovur), Ramireddy Pratap Reddy (Kavali), Mekapati Rajagopal Reddy (Udayagiri), Mekapati Vikram Reddy (Atmakur), Nedurumalli Ramkumar Reddy (Venkatagiri) and Kakani Govardhan Reddy (Sarvepalli). The Nellore Lok Sabha seat has been allotted to the party strongman V. Vijaya Sai Reddy.
The situation in Kadapa district, considered the YSRCP’s bastion, is also the same as five out of the six general seats were bagged by Reddy community. Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has retained Pulivendula and allotted the other seats to existing incumbents such as M. Sudheer Reddy (Jammalamadugu), Rachamallu Sivaprasad Reddy (Proddatur), Settipalle Raghurami Reddy (Mydukur), P. Ravindranath Reddy (Kamalapuram).
Deputy Chief Minister S.B. Amzath Basha has been retained for the Kadapa constituency, apparently considering the 60,000 Muslim votes, and the reserved seat of Badvel re-allotted to Dasari Sudha. Meanwhile, the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat has also been allotted to the incumbent candidate Y.S. Avinash Reddy.
In Nandyal district, all the six segments barring the Nandikotkur (SC) reserved constituency were allotted in the same pattern, viz., Gangula Brijendra Reddy (Allagadda), Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy (Srisailam), Katasani Rambhupal Reddy (Panyam), Shilpa Ravichandra Kishore Reddy (Nandyal), Katasani Rami Reddy (Banaganapalle) and Buggana Rajendranath Reddy (Dhone). Even the Nandyal Lok Sabha went to Pocha Brahmananda Reddy.
The party however ensured ‘social equilibrium’ by allotting more seats to BC community in the coastal region.
