Pithapuram rarely elects sitting MLA

Vijayawada : Pithapuram constituency has an interesting history. Barring three elections, it never elected a sitting MLA. Out of 16 elections held so far since its inception in 1952, Pithapuram elected Congress candidates five times, TDP thrice, Praja Party twice, CPI, BJP, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and YSRCP one each. It also elected two Independents.

In 2019, the YSRCP Congress Party bagged the Pithapuram seat. Dorababu Pendem had defeated TDP’s S V S N Varma by a margin of 14,992 votes. While the YSRCP candidate polled 83,459 votes, Varma had secured 68,467 votes. Jana Sena Party’s M. Seshu Kumari finished third with 28,011 votes.

Pithapuram is a high-stakes battle for Pawan Kalyan, who had a disastrous electoral debut in 2019, losing both the Assembly seats he contested.

Pawan had contested from Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram from Visakhapatnam and West Godavari districts respectively but lost in both places to the YSR Congress Party candidates.

In Gajuwaka, Pawan Kalyan lost to T. Nagi Reddy of YSRCP by a margin of 16,753 votes. While Nagi Reddy polled 75,292 votes, the Jana Sena Party leader had secured 58,539 votes. Telugu Desam Party’s Palla Srinivas Rao had finished a close third with 56,642 votes.

Gajuwaka is one of the Assembly segments in Visakhapatnam district.

Pawan Kalyan’s margin of defeat in Bhimavaram was comparatively narrow (8,357). In this segment in West Godavari district and a part of the Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency, he suffered defeat at the hands of Grandhi Srinivas of the YSR Congress Party. This was also a three-cornered contest like in Gajuwaka.

Srinivas polled 70,642 votes while Pawan Kalyan secured 62,285 votes. TDP’s Ramanjaneyulu Pulaparthi had garnered 54,036 votes.

In 2019, Pawan Kalyan had an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties. However, the Jana Sena Party could win just one seat in the 175-member Assembly and drew a blank in Lok Sabha polls.

This time, he has an alliance with the TDP and BJP. Under the seat-sharing agreement, the Jana Sena Party is contesting 21 Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats.