Pulivendula: Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu and YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy both hail from Rayalaseema region, but their constituencies Kuppam and Pulivendula are 250km apart.
Though both Naidu and Jagan prepare for a battle in known territory, public opinion shows Jagan is invincible in his home turf — Pulivendula.
On Friday, Jagan filed his nominations from Pulivendula Assembly seat, hoping to turn the tide in his favour across Andhra Pradesh in this election. His enthusiastic supporters declared that elections in Pulivendula were just a formality and Jagan had already won. There is no exaggeration in their statements, say local political observers.
Located in the northern part of Rayalaseema region, Pulivendual has been with the Reddy family since 1978. In the 1978 Assembly elections, Jagan's father, young medical practitioner Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, first won from Pulivendula on a Congress ticket. From that day till his death, he was either an MLA from Pulivendula or an MP from Kadapa, the district headquarters of Pulivendula.
When YSR was an MP between 1989 and 1998, Vivekananda Reddy was Pulivendula MLA. After YSR's tragic death just five months after he returned to power as CM in 2009, his wife Vijayamma won on a Congress ticket in a by-election. Jagan won from Pulivendual in 2014 on a YSRCP ticket.
Since 1978, the YSR family has won all 10 elections from Pulivendula, making it an impregnable fort. YSR six times, Vivekananda twice, Vijayamma and Jagan once each. YSR was also a four-time MP from Kadapa. Vivekananda Reddy was MP twice, while Jagan was MP once. Now his cousin Avinash Reddy is seeking re-election from Kadapa.
The YSR family has a huge influence over the people of Kadapa and Pulivendula. According to locals, anyone with the blessings of the clan family can easily win from there.
After filing his nominations, Jagan requested the voters to elect him with a huge margin and sought their permission to travel across Andhra Pradesh to ensure his party comes to power.
“Jagan will be the chief minister this time. In 2014, he lost the CM’s chair by a narrow margin. Chandrababu Naidu is unpopular. Wherever you go, you hear that Jagan is ahead. It is great news for us. For over 40 years, we have been electing YSR family members to both assembly and Parliament. We want to see Jagan in his father’s chair,” said an old admirer of the family, Shafiuddin.
Many others echo his sentiments across Pulivendula and Kadapa.
Pulivendula, a part of arid and parched Rayalaseema region bordering Karnataka, has seen a lot of development in the past 10-15 years. The town looks neater with excellent roads and other public amenities. New housing colonies are being developed and many automobile companies have opened showrooms.
Even the villages have good roads and all basic amenities. Most locals swear by the YSR family name and want to repay their “debt” by voting Jagan to the assembly.
The recent death of Jagan's uncle YS Vivekananda Reddy under mysterious circumstances has cast a dark cloud over the constituency. Vivenkananda Reddy who was found dead at his house in his village was also an MLA from Pulivendula and MP from Kadapa.
Jagan has held Chandrababu Naidu responsible for the death, calling him “chief criminal” and not a chief minister. The miffed chief minister hit back, blaming Jagan for the incident.
However, there are not many takers for such claims. The people of Pulivendula feel Vivekananda Reddy was murdered for some personal reasons and neither Jagan, nor Naidu have any role in it.
“They don’t benefit from his death. He was inactive in politics these days. Only recently he had been campaigning for his nephew. Both should stop politicising the death of our beloved YSR’s brother” said Raghava Reddy, a local YSRCP leader.
The Rayalaseema region has eight Lok Sabha seats and 56 Assembly seats. One has to wait and see whether Reddy wave will sweep the entire region along with Pulivendula or not.
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