Mylavaram, a bastion of Kamma leaders

Vijayawada: Mylavaram Assembly constituency in NTR district is one of the bastions for the Kamma community leaders. Congress and the TDP parties have fielded Kamma candidates for many decades. The YSRCP has fielded BC leader Jogi Ramesh from Mylavaram in 2009 and he was defeated.

The YSRCP changed the candidate in 2019 and fielded Vasanta Krishna Prasad, who belongs to Kamma community. He was elected in 2019 by defeating the TDP candidate and former minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao.

Devineni Uma has been elected twice from the constituency in 2004 and 2009. He missed the hat-trick with the defeat in the 2019 Assembly elections. Vasanta Venkata Krishna Prasad of the YSRCP hails from a prominent political family. Devineni Uma is likely to contest from Mylavaram again in 2024 elections.

Defeating Devineni Uma is not an easy task for the YSRCP because he has very strong following in the constituency. The YSRCP has fielded Vasanta Krishna Prasad as his family has been associated with politics for over five decades. His father Vasanta Nageswara Rao is a very senior politician and had served as the home minister in the N T Rama Rao Cabinet. He also held various other positions in both the Congress and the TDP regimes.

Mylavaram constituency has both urban and rural voters. The constituency has four mandals - G Konduru, Mylavaram, Vijayawada rural and Reddygudem. Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao and Chanumolu Venkata Rao who were elected from the constituency served as ministers.

The TDP is likely to field Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao in the 2024 elections. He is a strong critic of the YSRCP government and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. He was arrested several times in the YSRCP rule when he tried to take part in protests and agitations opposing the policies of the State government during the last four-and-a-half years.

The YSRCP leader and sitting MLA Vasanta Venkata Krishna Prasad had expressed his unwillingness to contest from Mylavaram constituency because of interference of housing minister Jogi Ramesh in the local party affairs in Mylavaram.

Jogi Ramesh was elected from Pedana constituency in 2019. He contested from Mylavaram in 2014 and was defeated by Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao.

In 20 19 elections, YSRCP candidate Vasanta Krishna Prasad got 1,14,940 votes and Devineni Uma got 1,02,287 votes. Vasanta secured 49 per cent of the polled votes and Devineni Uma secured 44 per cent.

When the YSRCP wave swept the State in 2019 elections, Devineni Uma was able to get 44 per cent votes. In 2014, Devineni Uma defeated Jogi Ramesh of YSRCP. Uma got 94,543 votes and Jogi Ramesh secured 86,970 votes.

Jogi Ramesh is aspiring for the YSRCP ticket to contest from Mylavaram in the ensuing elections. But, the YSRCP leadership is likely to choose Vasanta Krishna Prasad because he belongs to Kamma community which has been dominating the politics of Mylavaram for many decades.

Congress leader Chanumolu Venkata Rao, who belongs to Kamma caste won five times from the constituency in 1967, 1972, 1978, 1985 and 2004. Chanumolu lost the election in Mylavaram twice in 1983 and 1994. He had a strong association with Mylavaram constituency for around four decades.

Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, another prominent farmers’ leader, was elected on the TDP ticket from Mylavaram in 1999 and had served as the agriculture minister.

CPI candidate Vellanki Visweswara Rao won in 1955 and 1962. TDP leader Nimmagadda Satyanarayana was elected in 1983, Congress candidate Komati Bhaskara Rao was elected in 1989 and Jyeshta Ramesh Babu of TDP was elected in 1994. Kamma candidates have represented the constituency for over five decades and the political parties are also choosing the Kamma candidates as they have the backing of the community voters.