Kapu, BC votes to decide victory in Kakinada LS

Kakinada: The Kakinada Lok Sabha is going to witness triangular contest with the major contenders from TDP, YSRC and Jana Sena party are in the fray. The significant aspect in April 2019 polls is, all the three major contenders Chalamalasetti Sunil Kumar of TDP, Vanga Geeta of YSRC and Jyotula Venkateswara Rao of Jana Sena Party were together under one umbrella in Praja Rajyam Party in 2009 and contesting against each other now.

All the three hails from Kapu community. While Sunil Kumar unsuccessfully contested for Kakinada Lok Sabha in 2009, Geeta won as MLA from Pithapuram Assembly constituency on behalf of PRP and the JSP contender Jyotula Venkateswara Rao could not get the PRP ticket despite his best efforts and long association with Chiranjeevi during that period.

Prior to her election as MLA from Pithapuram on behalf of PRP, Vanga Geeta has served as chairperson of East Godavari Zilla Parishad, member of Rajya Sabha on behalf of TDP for one-term. Keeping away from active politics in the last four-and-half years, she recently joined YSRC and contesting the LS polls.

The JSP candidate Jyotula Venkateswara Rao, a businessman hails from political family and his father late Jyotula Appa Rao was associated with the Congress. Jyotula also had association with local electronic media for some time.TDP candidate Sunil Kumar, an industrialist, also tried his luck in 2014 LS polls on behalf of YSRC and left the party after Kakinada civic body polls in 2017 and joined TDP recently.

The Kakinada Lok Sabha has 7 Assembly segments, Kakinada Urban, Kakinada Rural, Pithapuram, Peddapuram, Jaggampeta, Tuni and Prathipadu. In total the constituency has 14.74 lakh voters and Kapus and BCs decide the winner in the LS polls. Former Union HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju represented the constituency twice in 2004 and 2009 on behalf of the Congress.

Prior to him, Mudragada Padmabham elected from the constituency in 1999 on behalf of TDP. Former Union Minister U V Krishnam Raju also got elected from Kakinada in 1998 as BJP candidate before the midterm polls in1999. Among the major political parties, the BJP's Yalla Dorababu is also in the fray.