Rajamahendravaram: In Jaggampeta, two families rule the roost

Rajamahendravaram : Jaggampeta is the Assembly constituency where two families have been ruling the roost for about seven decades. It is either Thota family or the Jyothula family who have been representing the constituency. Both belong to Kapu community. It is also believed that any party that wins from here would form the government in the state with the only exception of 1989 when Congress had formed the government though TDP candidate Thota Subbarao won from here.

Three leaders, Pantham Padmanabham, Thota Subbarao and Thota Narasimham, served as state ministers from this constituency. Even today, the constituency has undisputed Kapu domination.

According to 2019 election figures, the constituency has a total of 2,11,402 voters. There are four mandals in this constituency namely Jaggampeta, Kirlampudi, Gandepalli and Gokavaram. Before 2009, Rangampeta mandal was in the Jaggampeta constituency and Gokavaram was a part of the Burugupudi constituency.

As part of the delimitation process, Rangampeta was merged into Anaparthi and Gokavaram mandal with Jaggampeta. Since 1955, 15 elections, including one byelection, have been held in Jaggampeta.

In 1955, Duriseti Gopala Rao (Swatantra Party) won. In 1962, Vaddi Mutyala Rao (Congress) won. In 1967 K Pantham got elected as Swatantra Party nominee. In the 1972 and 1978 elections, Congress candidate Pantham Padmanabham was elected.

Thota Subbarao won three consecutive elections here from 1983 to 1989. In 1991, he got elected to Parliament and his close relative Jyothula Nehru became his successor winning the byelection as TDP candidate.

Nehru won the elections of 1994 and 1999. Thota Narasimham won from Congress in the 2004 and 2009 elections and became a minister in the N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s government. After bifurcation, Jyothula Nehru won in 2014 as YSRCP candidate but later joined TDP and lost to Jyotula Chantibabu of YSRCP in 2019.

Thota Subbarao (TDP) won three times as MLA, while Pantham Padmanabham (Congress), Jyothula Nehru (TDP) and Thota Narasimha (Congress) won twice each from this constituency.

Once upon a time, Jaggampeta was the main centre for tiles industry in the state. Tiles industries have now completely disappeared as the demand has decreased over time. Oil palm cultivation is also high in this constituency. Farmers' problems and irrigation hardships are mainly affecting this constituency.

Due to lack of industrial development, the youth are trapped without employment opportunities. The infrastructure in the villages, mainly the roads, is very poor. For decades, political opportunities have been limited to two or three families, which is also preventing the development of the constituency say locals.

According to the latest situation, former MLA Jyothula Nehru as the candidate of TDP and former minister Thota Narasimham as YSRCP’s nominee are likely to enter the fray. Because of the political clout of the Kapu caste, there are chances that the Jana Sena may insist on contesting from the seat.