Gajuwaka constituency hogs limelight for varied reasons

Visakhapatnam: Of all the constituencies in Visakhapatnam, Gajuwaka has a special significance.

One of the main reasons is Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief K Pawan Kalyan contested from the constituency in 2019. Even though he lost, the craze for the seat continues.

Also, the seat is known for presence of several industries. The most popular Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), popularly known Visakhapatnam steel plant, falls under Gajuwaka jurisdiction. The constituency has been drawing attention for the past several months as Ukku protesters continue to wage a battle against the Centre’s decision to privatise the RINL.

Over 1 lakh families are dependent directly and indirectly on Visakhapatnam steel plant (VSP) and its allied sectors in the area.

Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation’s (APIIC) Industrial Area Local Authority (IALA) at Auto Nagar in Gajuwaka comprises a number of micro, small and medium industries. Thousands of employees depend on the IALA for livelihood.

As employees from various parts of the country and neighbouring districts have settled in Gajuwaka, this seat reflects a cosmopolitan culture.

Interestingly, in Andhra Pradesh, the Gajuwaka area has the highest per capita income. On November 21, 2005, the Gajuwaka Municipality was merged with Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).

Currently, two main mandals form part of the constituency. One is Gajuwaka mandal and the other one is Pedagantyada mandal which is bigger in area wise.

After delimitation exercise, elections for Gajuwaka constituency were held in 2009. Chintalapudi Venkataramaiah was the first MLA from Praja Rajyam Party (PRP). Another noticeable feature in the constituency is that locals elect a new MLA each time.

In 2014, TDP candidate Palla Srinivasa Rao won as MLA, while Tippala Nagireddy emerged victorious in the next polls.

However, the constituency hogged much limelight in 2019 elections as Pawan Kalyan filed a nomination from the constituency. Although the fight was among the TDP, JSP and YSRCP, Tippala Nagireddy, representing the fan symbol, won the seat.

A majority of voters in Gajuwaka belong to Kapu and Yadava communities. It is one of the main reasons why Pawan Kalyan zeroed in on the constituency in 2019.

Even as caste equations were taken into consideration, the outcome, however, turned out to be favourable to the YSRCP.

YSRCP candidate Tippala Nagireddy secured 74,656 votes, JSP chief garnered 56,123 votes and 54,642 votes fell into TDP candidate Palla Srinivasa Rao’s account. Nagireddy won with a comfortable majority of 14,520 votes.

Even as Chintalapudi Venkataramaiah, who belonged to the Kapu community, contested for the first time from PRP in 2009, he was able to win by securing 50,994 votes back then. But, when actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, who has a huge fan following, contested in 2019, he could not draw more than 56,125 votes.

While it was a quadrilateral fight in 2009, it was a triangular fight among the TDP, YSRCP and JSP in 2019.

Speculation is rife over who is going to contest from Gajuwaka constituency as recently the YSRCP changed the party’s constituency coordinator T Devan Reddy, son of Tippala Nagireddy. Hence, there is no clarity on probable candidates contesting from Gajuwaka.