Kandukur, an undisputed fort for Manugunta family

Ongole: The Kandukur Assembly constituency, which came into existence in the 1955 elections, has been the turf for the Manugunta family for more than a half-a-century. The Divi family and Pothula family are also influential in the constituency, but they are struggling to prove their grip now.

The voters in the Kandukur Assembly constituency have exercised their right to vote 14 times so far and elected the Manugunta family 7 times, the Divi family four times, the Nallamothu family two times, and the Pothula family one time to represent them. Divi Kondaiah Chowdary, as the Indian National Congress candidate won in 1955 and 1978, while Nallamothu Chenchu Ramanaidu of the same party won in 1962 and 1967.

Manugunta Adinarayana Reddy, an independent candidate, defeated Chenchu Ramanaidu in 1972 and won again in 1983 against Gutta Venkata Subbaiah of Congress. In 1985, Adinarayana Reddy won on Congress ticket while Gutta joined TDP.

In 1989, Manugunta Mahishar Reddy contested in his father’s place in Congress, but was defeated twice in 1994 and 1999 by Divi Sivaram, son of Kondaiah Chowdary. Sivaram was defeated by Mahidhar Reddy twice in 2004 and 2009, and Pothula Ramarao, nephew of Nallamothu Chenchu Ramanaidu, from YSRCP in 2014. Later in 2016, Ramarao defected to TDP but lost to Manugunta Mahidhar Reddy, the YSRCP candidate in 2019.

Kandukur Assembly constituency consists of Kandukur, Ulavapadu, Gudluru, Lingasamudram and Voletivaripalem mandals, and a total of 2,18,859 electors, including 1,08,940 men and 1,098,95 women. In 2019, Manugunta Mahidhar Reddy of YSRCP received 1,01,275 votes against Pothula Ramarao of TDP receiving 86,339 votes and won with a majority of 14,936 votes.

People in the constituency are mostly farmers and dependent on the agriculture activity. They demand the government to complete the left canal works of the Somasila project in the Nellore district, which is a feeder canal to the Rallapadu project in the Kandukur constituency, to supply 1.5 tmc feet of water for the agriculture and drinking water needs of 130 villages. The people in Kandukur demand the government to approve the master plan for the town so that they can get the housing plan approvals, dumping yard and other facilities as per the municipal Act.

Kandukur is part of the Nellore parliament constituency but has been in the territorial jurisdiction of the Prakasam district until recently. This made the students from the Kandukur local category to the Andhra University region, but not to the Sri Venkateswara University as of the other students in the Nellore parliament constituency.

In fact, after the reorganisation of the districts in 2022, the government specifically issued orders for the Kandukur students, that they belong to the AU region only, but not SVU, just because the district is changed now. The students and locals are demanding the re-inclusion of the Kandukur Assembly constituency in the Prakasam district.

Ramayapatnam port and an integrated paper and pulp industry are the long-pending demands of the locals. They demand the government boost the construction speed of the port and conduct skill enhancement programs for works in the port for the youth.

Kandukur constituency is mainly dominated by Kammas, Vaddera and Yadavas from BCs, SCs and fishermen communities.

In the 2024 elections, Manugunta Mahidhar Reddy will certainly contest on the YSRCP ticket. But, the TDP has yet to finalise its candidate. While Divi Sivaram may not contest this time, Pothula Ramarao and Inturi Nageswara Rao are in the race for the TDP ticket. However, there may be a sudden introduction of NRI candidates or the fielding of Damacharla Janardhana Rao due to last-minute adjustments in alliance with the Jana Sena Party.