Pathikonda rich in diamonds, gold & iron ore mines

Pathikonda constituency is rich in diamonds, gold and iron ore mines. It has treasure troves like the rock edicts of Emperor Ashoka and the statue of Major Thomas Munro who was appointed as Principal Collector, by the Madras presidency.

It is also known for second highest cultivation of tomatoes in the State after Madanapalle in Chittoor district.

The constituency despite having a huge source of revenue is lagging far behind in development. There are no proper roads, industries and even no proper transportation. The successive governments which came to power did not bother to develop the constituency.

Even the leaders, who have become MLAs from this constituency, did not show any interest to work on the development front. During the last four-and-a-half years of YSR Congress government, despite several promises no initiatives were taken to develop the constituency.

The constituency has five mandals, Tuggali, Maddikera, Pathikonda, Veldurthy and Krishnagiri. The constituency was a stronghold for the TDP. Six MLAs of the party were elected from the constituency. They include Gupta Mahabaleshwar Gupta (1985), SV Subba Reddy (1994-2004), Kambalapadu Ediga Prabhakar (2009) and Kambalapadu Ediga Krishna Murthy in 2014. In 2019, the TDP lost the seat in the YSR Congress Party. The mandals in the constituency are totally drought prone. There are several thandas and the people in these thandas are illiterates. There is only one reservoir, Pandikona Reservoir which caters to irrigation and drinking water needs of Pathikonda mandal. A pipeline was laid during the TDP period.

The farmers in the constituency mostly cultivate tomatoes. There have been several instances during the peak season when the farmers threw their produce on the roads for lack of remunerative price at the agriculture market yard. The main demand to set up an agro-based industry to manufacture tomato juice and ketchup factory in this area has been ignored though it was promised by YSRCP before 2019 elections.

Pathikonda connects Gooty in Anantapur district and Mantralayam and Raichur in Karnataka besides Telangana State. Still the area has not been converted into a trade hub. Surfacing of diamonds during rainy season is a common phenomenon here. Diamonds are commonly detected in the fields of Maddikera, Tuggali, Peravali, Jonnagiri and Pathikonda areas. People from faraway places would pitch tents during rainy season and hunt for the valuable stones. Even diamond merchants, both local merchants and those from Mumbai and other metropolitan cities visit Pathikonda during the season and return after a good gain. Recently a gold extracting company Geo Mysore has set up its plant in Jonnagiri village of Tuggali mandal. In fact, the Geological Survey of India has confirmed the gold reserves in 1994.

The Geo Mysore company has acquired 350 acres to extract gold. Similarly, Ramallakota in Veldurthy mandal is also famous for iron ore. If the government shows interest in developing the area, it can gain importance like Surat city in Gujarat, local people say.

The constituency has a total voter strength of 2,19,373. Of them, 1,10,198 are males, 1,09,153 females and 22 third gender. K E Shyam Kumar is the frontrunner from TDP to contest in the 2024 Assembly polls. On the other hand Pochamreddy Muralidhar Reddy of the YSRCP announced that he would be chosen as the official candidate of the party while taking part in the birthday celebrations of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Thus two candidates from the ruling YSRCP - current MLA Kangati Sreedevi and Pochamreddy Muralidhar Reddy are in the race for the party ticket. The two leaders separately organised the birthday celebrations of CM Jagan.