Ruling party goes into campaign mode in Tirupati

Tirupati: YSRCP Tirupati Assembly candidate Bhumana Abhinay Reddy is leveraging the significant advantage of securing his candidacy much earlier than his rivals.

While the TDP-Jana Sena alliance is still in the process of selecting their candidate, Abhinay gained approval from his party several months ago and promptly launched into campaign mode from the outset.

He has been constantly organising about three to four ‘Atmeeya Samavesalu’ everyday utilising the opportunity to meet various sections in smaller groups. During these get-together meetings, he was explaining the good work done by the Municipal Corporation and the active part played by him as the Deputy Mayor. He was explaining the development works executed in the city during the last five years.

By saying that it was only a beginning, he is trying to explain his vision for city development during the next five years if he wins as a legislator. Apart from meeting various organisations, unions, associations, communities etc., he is even going to various colonies and holding get-togethers with the local people there.

After explaining his work in the past and what he is going to do in future, Abhinay says, “If you like these works and trust me, you support me in the next elections to see a completely different Tirupati. What happened so far was only a beginning and there is a lot more to do,” he tells the denizens.

However, there was another view in the city that it may not be a cakewalk for him as many Tirupatians are equally angry with the road widening works in the name of master plan roads in which they had to forego their lands.

The TDR bonds issue has become a major setback for the ruling party. The proposal to lay three master plan roads through SV University campus has kicked up a row bringing various sections of the elite together who opposed it severely. Finally, he had to drop the move for now.

On the other hand, the TDP – Jana Sena combine has not given any indication on its candidate leaving much air for speculation. However, the party sources maintain that the choice is between former MLA M Sugunamma and Vuka Vijay Kumar. They both are actively campaigning along with other leaders and taking part in various programmes mostly confined to the protests and exposing government failures.

Both of them belong to the Balija community which has a major chunk of voters in the city. When the caste scenario comes into the fore, the Balija candidate is said to have an edge over the Reddy community. Further, in the 2019 election, Karunakar Reddy has won by a narrow margin of 708 votes. In this backdrop, Tirupati Assembly election will witness an intense battle in the coming days.