Chinta to contest again for Tirupati Lok Sabha seat

Tirupati: After much uncertainty, the six-time Congress MP Chinta Mohan gets the party ticket to contest once again for Tirupati Lok Sabha reserved seat. His candidature was hanging in balance all these days and speculation was rife that he may not get the ticket this time. Simultaneously, there were rumours spreading widely that INDIA bloc is seriously considering the allocation of Tirupati Lok Sabha ticket to left parties which are in the alliance. Notably, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has not been allotted any seats by Congress, it was also speculated that the seat may go to that party.

But, putting at rest all speculations, the Congress high command released the list of a few Assembly and MP candidates in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday night in which Chinta Mohan name was figured for Tirupati LS seat.

With this, Mohan, who camped in New Delhi for the past few days heaved a sigh of relief and returned to Tirupati earlier during the day. He is expected to address the media in Tirupati on Wednesday about his candidature.

Earlier, Anjaiah, a leader of the Republican Party of India (RPI), has expressed intent to contest the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat as part of the INDIA alliance when it has been rumoured that Congress was willing to cede this seat to its allies, foregoing its own candidacy, despite Tirupati traditionally being a Congress stronghold until the emergence of the YSRCP.

Interestingly, Congress veteran Chinta Mohan won the seat six times though he first won it on TDP ticket. He secured the seat in 1984, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2004 and 2009.

However, the formation of YSRCP has changed Chinta’s fortunes in Tirupati. As a result, he lost the seat consecutively for three times in 2014, 2019 and in the byelection held in 2021.

While Mohan got 33,333 votes in 2014 elections, in 2019 and 2021 he secured less votes than NOTA. Undeterred by these results, he has been constantly among people raising one issue or the other. In recent times, he tried to promote his son and daughter by securing them Congress party Assembly tickets and that was also not materialised.

Surprisingly, his advocacy for Tirupati as the state capital, contrary to the Congress party's stance supporting Amaravati, has raised eyebrows. While he recently retracted this stance in New Delhi and explained reasons for his earlier stand. Finally, he could manage to secure the ticket again which he has been getting since 1989 continuously with only exception in 1996.

As he crossed the major hurdle of securing the party ticket, he will once again plunge into the poll battle intensifying his campaign. It may be recalled here that, YSRCP has already named its sitting MP Dr Maddila Gurumoorthy for Tirupati again, NDA has named BJP candidate V Varaprasad who is sitting YSRCP MLA from Gudur and former MP of Tirupati.