Punganur to witness triangular contest

Tirupati: The Punganur Assembly constituency in Chittoor district is gearing up for a fiercely contested triangular battle in the upcoming general elections on May 13.

What adds an interesting twist to the race is that all three main contenders from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Bharat Chaitanya Yuvajana (BCY) party share the first name Ramachandra, which could potentially confuse voters. The YSR Congress Party has once again nominated its sitting MLA and Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, who is hopeful of leveraging his established popularity after winning consecutively since 2009. On the other hand, the opposition Telugu Desam Party has put forward Challa Ramachandra Reddy, also known as Challa Babu, a former member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board. Meanwhile, Bode Ramachandra Yadav, the chief of the Bharat Chaitanya Yuvajana party, has also entered the fray.

Though Punganur was a Congress bastion till the establishment of TDP, the party lost ground there after that. N T Rama Rao, the founder of TDP, picked bus conductor B Gopal as his candidate for Punganur in 1983 and he was elected with a thumping majority. From 1985 onwards, After he moved to Lok Sabha winning thrice in 1996, 1998 and 1999 from Chittoor, his son Amaranatha Reddy was fielded from the Punganur constituency who won the by-poll in 1996.

Though he lost the election in 1999 to Congress candidate Sridhar Reddy, he once again managed to win in 2004 and then shifted to Palamaner after the delimitation of constituencies.

At the same time, Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy migrated from Piler to Punganur and made it as his stronghold winning the three elections continuously from 2009 and he is set to win for the fourth time from the same seat this time despite getting stiff opposition from TDP candidate Challa Babu.

In the last three elections, Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy secured 50 per cent vote share while the TDP was getting above 30 per cent vote share in the constituency.

Still, TDP candidate Challa Babu is confident in the opposition's ability to unseat the incumbent and also was of the view that the anti-incumbency against Peddireddi may work in his favour. Bode Ramachandra Yadav of BCY aims to capitalise on the Yadava community's substantial vote share. He has contested as JSP candidate in the last election but was defeated. The Congress party will also be in the fray. Yet, the poll battle in Punganur constituency is witnessing an intense heated campaigning from all parties, making the constituency a focal point of political intrigue in the upcoming elections.