TDP attempts to regain its glory in Thamballapalle

Tirupati: Though Thamballapalle constituency is the most backward area of the erstwhile Chittoor district, it is politically more active. Located at the border of Kadapa-Anantapur-Karnataka, the BC dominated constituency was known for its continuous droughts for over several years.

However, in the past 3-4 years the area received significant rainfall but the farmers fail to get support prices for their produce.

Many people migrated to nearby Anantapur district and Karnataka in search of livelihood. The constituency was also getting water through Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi though not abundantly.

The famous Horsley Hills and Rishi Valley school are located in this segment only. YSRCP could win the Assembly seat in 2019 by a big margin. Its candidate Peddireddi Dwarakanath Reddy brother of minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy defeated his TDP opponent and then sitting MLA G Shankar Yadav who belongs to BC community by a margin of 46938 votes.

Prior to that in 2014, Shankar Yadav defeated former MLA and YSRCP candidate AV Praveen Kumar Reddy by 9,190 votes.

Interestingly, in 2009 elections Praveen contested as TDP candidate and defeated Shankar Yadav who was in the fray on Congress ticket. They switched their loyalties in the next election and ultimately TDP won the seat in both the elections.

After the inception of TDP in 1983, the party has so far won the seat four times in 1983, 1994, 2009 and 2014. Congress party won six times, YSRCP and Swatantra party once each while independents could win twice. While Praveen Kumar Reddy won the seat once on TDP ticket, his mother AV Lakshmi Devamma won twice in 1985 and 1994.

The coming election will be crucial for both YSRCP as its candidate Dwarakanath Reddy is all set to get another chance to contest. With the dominance he has shown in the constituency during the last five years and with his family background, it will be prestigious for him to win the seat.

TDP, on the other hand, wants to bounce back and win the seat after the huge defeat in the previous election. However, there was no clarity on its candidate as the party is said to be considering both Shankar Yadav and Praveen Kumar Reddy’s candidatures. It has to be seen whether the party relies on BC leader or tilt in favour of Praveen Kumar whose family is having a political legacy.

Meanwhile, the constituency has 2,21,647 voters after the special summary revision of electoral rolls which include 1,12,418 women and 1,09,219 men voters besides 10 others. On the whole, there was an increase of 11813 voters compared to the 2019 elections but the figures may vary by the time the final list is published.