Lokesh to bank on Amaravati development

Amaravati: When the name of Nara Lokesh, TDP general secretary and son of the party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, surfaced as the party candidate from Mangalagiri Assembly constituency, the opposition parties have started new demand in social media that all political parties must give the ticket to BC communities, particularly weaver community.

It is to be noted that Ganji Chiranjeevi of TDP, who lost to YSRCP candidate Alla Ramakrishna Reddy in 2014, by only 12 votes, belongs to the weaver community.

Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan announced in one of his public meetings earlier that he will give the ticket to weaver community in the Mangalagiri. Citing this, Jana Sena leaders have been asking all political parties to allow the community to contest the poll in the seat.

At present, the constituency has nearly 2.40 lakh votes. As the voter enrolment is in progress, some new votes may be added and some others may be deleted. Out of them, SC votes account for roughly 50,000 and weaver community votes would be around 30,000 or around 15 per cent.

Meanwhile, TDP leaders of the constituency are expressing happiness over the candidature of Lokesh from Mangalagiri, as they could be in direct contact with the top leader. The local leaders have been celebrating this development. Party sources said Lokesh, who interacted with party leaders from the constituency on Thursday, will launch his campaign on Friday.

TDP leaders are maintaining that the Mangalagiri Assembly constituency witnessed tremendous development under the leadership of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the past four-and-a-half years, particularly after establishment of capital city.

Being a part of capital city, Mangalagiri is receiving a number of benefits like infrastructure development, increased value of properties as capital construction picks up. Mangalagiri Assembly constituency consists of Mangalagiri municipal town, Mangalagiri Rural, Tadepalli and Duggirala mandals.

Of the three mandals, all the three parties of YSRCP, Jana Sena and TDP have good presence in Tadepalli mandal. But, YSRCP is strong followed by Jana Sena. Interestingly, in the previous local body elections, the TDP ZPTC member Dandamudi Sailaja Rani emerged as a surprise winner.

When it comes to the Mangalagiri rural, Left parties have a significant presence. Congress held majority at Mangalagiri town, where the weavers community is predominant. The Congress leaders including former minister Murugudu Hanumantha Rao and former MLA Kandru Kamala are with TDP at present. Their presence in the TDP will help Lokesh.

Duggirala mandal is likely to witness tough fight between TDP and YSRCP, based on the previous experience. If the YSRCP fails to field a strong candidate who can stand up to Lokesh, then it will be a cakewalk for Lokesh to get majority in the mandal.