Chandragiri constituency: YSRCP, TDP keen contest on cards

Tirupati: The stage is set for keen fight between YSRCP and TDP in Chandragiri constituency as the seat assumes significance in many ways. It is from here TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu was first elected as MLA.

Chandragiri constituency which was formed in 1952 was later merged with other Assembly constituency in the delimitation process and was re-carved as separate constituency in 1978.

Its first MLA in 1952 was Adikesavulu Naidu. After it again became an Assembly constituency in 1978, Chandrababu Naidu got elected. In 1983 during TDP wave, Naidu who was in Congress and also a minister, was defeated by Medasani Venkatarama Naidu of TDP. In 1994, Nara Ramamurthy Naidu, brother of Chandrababu Naidu was elected from Chandragiri.

In 1985 Assembly elections, N R Jayadeva Naidu was elected as TDP candidate. But in 1989 Galla Aruna Kumari won from Chandragiri as Congress candidate which marked her political career. She was elected from Chandragiri in 1999, 2004, 2009 and also served as minister for nearly 10 years, till her defeat in 2014 elections by Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy of YSRCP.

She had won four times as the Congress candidate but after bifurcation of the state she joined TDP and unsuccessfully contested as the TDP candidate. Her husband Galla Ramachandra Naidu is a famous industrialist and owns Amara Raja Group of Companies in Chittoor district.

Bhaskar Reddy emerged as a strong leader in the district and was elected in 2019 also. He is said to be close to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and holds various positions, including TUDA chairman, government whip and is also TTD trust board ex officio member.

Recently, he succeeded in getting his son Chevireddy Mohit Reddy appointed as TUDA chairman. He also the official candidate of YSRCP from Chandragiri Assembly seat in the coming 2024 elections.

Bhaskar Reddy maintains close contact with the people and party activists and leaders in Chandragiri. He had helped 1.46 lakh families during Covid pandemic in different ways.

Against the formidable challenge from Bhaskar Reddy family, the TDP is trying its best to win back Chandragiri. Its candidate Pullivarthi Nani who is also TDP Chittoor district president, is making all out efforts to wrest the seat from YSRCP.

Nani has taken up his campaign and has been trying to get bogus votes weeded out. In a significant development, the Chandragiri Assembly constituency which was in Chittoor district was included in Tirupati district by the government in the reorganisation of districts last year.