TDP has edge in Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency

Hindupur (Sri Sathya Sai district): The TDP has fielded Sri Sathya Sai district party president B K Parthasarathi as the party's candidate for Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency.

He is a senior party leader associated with the party since its inception. He served as ZP chairman during 1994-99. He was a popular ZP chairman who proved his mettle through his rural development initiatives.

In 1999, he was elected the Member of Parliament from Hindupur. He also served as Penukonda MLA after the assassination of Paritala Ravindra. He had been the long serving party

president for the undivided district and post bifurcation of districts, for the Sathya Sai district. He is non-controversial and carries all sections of the party with him.

The party high command has set aside ex-MP Nimmala Kistappa for re-nomination and has zeroed in on B K Parthasarathi. Parthasarathi is taking the help of all party leaders in the Sathya Sai district.

Talking to The Hans India, Parthasarathi said that the Parliamentary constituency is a bastion for TDP and that the party is strong in

Raptadu, Hindupur, Penukonda, Puttaparthi, Dharmavaram and Kadiri Assembly constituencies.

He exuded confidence of winning with a comfortable majority. He points out that his YSRCP rival Shantamma is a non-local and the dark shadow of sitting MP Gorantla Madhav is also haunting the ruling party in the constituency. People are disgusted with his non-performance and Madhav’s “naked video” controversy has lowered the dignity of an MP. The locals have lost faith in the YSRCP and the MP candidate hailing from Bellary will not help in resolving the issues in the constituency.

Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency with a population of 14,46,496 voters is spread in seven Assembly segments of Raptadu, Madakasira, Hindupur, Penukonda, Puttaparthi, Dharmavaram and Kadiri. The sitting MP is Kuruva Gorantla Madhav. He was a police officer turned politician who contested and won as MP for the first time representing the YSRCP in 2019 general elections.

He was denied renomination for 2024 Parliament elections in view of his controversial style of functioning. The YSRCP has fielded J Shantamma as its MP candidate for Hindupur for 2024. The constituency is 65-years-old and was founded in

1957. In 1957 and 1962, one K V Rama Krishna Reddy, an Independent candidate had served as the MP.

In 1967, former President of India Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy won as the MP from the constituency.

Congress candidate Bayapa Reddy won as MP in 1971, 1977 and 1980, S Gangadhar in 1988 and G Nizamuddin in 2004. In 1984, TDP candidate K Ramachandra Reddy won from the constituency.

In 2009 and 2014, senior TDP leader Nimmala Kistappa served as MP from the Lok Sabha constituency.

In 2019, ex-police officer K Gorantla Madhav won as Hindupur MP at the height of the Jagan Mohan Reddy wave. The constituency has industrial growth but remains backward on the education front.

The lone government medical college sanctioned in Penukonda has not made any headway. Neither the sitting MP Gorantla Madhav nor the Penukonda MLA Sankara Narayana has carried it forward by following it up with the State government and the Chief Minister.

The most prestigious education project that has become a reality in Palasamudram in Penukonda is the the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) project which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.

The NACIN project was established at Palasamudram under the AP Reorganisation Act-2014.