Gudivada to witness a keen contest

Vijayawada : All eyes are on Gudivada Assembly constituency in Krishna district. Four-time MLA and former minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao alias Kodali Nani is contesting from Gudivada constituency. He was elected twice as the TDP candidate in 2004 and 2009. Later, he quit the TDP and joined the YSRCP and got elected in 2014 and 2019.

The TDP will field Venigandla Ramu, who was officially appointed as the in-charge of the Gudivada in December 2023. He has been actively participating in the TDP programmes for the last one year and meeting the people in Gudivada Assembly constituency to garner the support from the voters.

Backward Classes and Kapu voters are in big numbers here. Kamma, Muslim and Dalit voters also play important role in Gudivada constituency. It has both urban and rural voters and here the candidate matters more than the political party.

Winning the contest may not be easy for Kodali Nani in 2024. The YSRCP is facing the anti-incumbency factor. Nani is a strong critic of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Kamma voters in Gudivada Assembly constituency may vote against him.

On the other hand, Kodali Nani maintains strong relationship with the party cadre and his supporters. It helped him to win the polls four times in a row. He also maintained good relationship with the party leaders and successfully got funds to develop the constituency.

These factors may help Nani to win the elections in 2024. If BJP joins TDP-Jana Sena alliance, the chances of TDP candidate may increase.

Kapu and Kamma voters may support the alliance candidate Venigalla Ramu. He launched the campaign long time ago meeting the people in the constituency.

Gudivada is the stronghold for the TDP since its inception in 1983. But the voters have defeated the party candidates in 2014 and 2019 after Nani’s desertion.

It shows that the voters prefer the candidate irrespective of the party. Keen battle is expected this time because TDP candidate has his own plans to defeat Kodali Nani. On the other hand, with more than two decades of political experience, Nani is not ready to lose the political battle.

In 2014, Kodali Nani defeated Raavi Venkateswara Rao and in 2019 trounced then TDP candidate Devineni Avinash, who is now YSRCP candidate in Vijayawada East.

He served as minister for civil supplies in the Jagan Mohan Reddy Cabinet. Earlier, when he was in TDP, Kodali Nani had defeated Congress candidates K Eswar Kumar and Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao 2004 and 2009 polls.