Kuppam relegated to last position

[kantharao]

Kuppam is relegated to the last position in the numerical order under delimitation and is now constituency number 294. The victory of N Chandrababu Naidu by a majority of 59,588 votes may be a thing of the past, given the changed political scenario. 

Chittoor strongman DK Adikesavulu Naidu switched over to Congress and that makes all the difference added to the grooming of Congress nominee Subrahmanyam Naidu by the chief minister during the past five years. 

The biggest blow to Naidu is DK’s defection as he is a force to reckon with in the district and continues to hold sway in all the pockets of Chittoor. During the previous elections TDP won four of the seven segments while Congress captured Pileru, Vepenjeri and Chandragiri.

For the man who dethroned his father-in-law in a family coup, the defection of DK may not sound strange but in elections it matters most. Delimitation has added Nagari, represented by Congress heavyweight R Chenga Reddy, to Chittoor which is a bonus to Congress. 

Chandragiri, the constituency Naidu abandoned after he defected to TDP from Congress is represented by Galla Aruna Kumari while Chittoor and Palamaner are in the TDP fold, thanks to Adikesavulu Naidu. Puttalpattu and Gandhari Nellore are the two new constituencies delimitation has brought in and Kuthuhalamma is contesting from the latter after her Vepanjeri was erased from the electoral map 

The irregularities in implementing Isreali technology in Kuppam would be haunting Chandrababu Naidu while the Congress has gained muscle during the past five years. 

Naidu, the wily politician he is, has conserved his energies in the initial stages of campaign and drove NTR family members Balakrishna and NTR Jr to tour the state in the scorching heat while he was confined most of the time in cobbling up the Grand Alliance and trying to patch up the warring partners of the Maha Kutami. 

NTR son N Harikrishna, who tasted the intriguing moves of Naidu during his sojourn in the cabinet, kept himself away for reasons best known to him. NTR Jr recited the lines promptly and with age on his side he withstood the heat of electioneering before he made an unfortunate exit from electioneering. 

Naidu has now come into the open and his campaign with cash transfer and colour TVs and is crisscrossing the state after polls in Telangana were over. Mahakutami with diverse ideologies had come together to fight a battle of convenience.

Thee is no common minimum programme of the Alliance and they differ on all major issues. Still it is a marriage of convenience and the common agenda they have is to put up a united fight against Congress.

Whether or not people believe the promises of Naidu is something which comes as hindsight. The left parties and TRS are at loggerheads and TRS and TDP too had differences and fielded candidates against each other in the name of friendly contest. A contest is a contest and there cannot be a friendly contest. Who will benefit out of this is anybody’s guess. Starting from covering the picture of Rajiv Gandhi on ambulances to shooting letters and submitting letters to election authorities on flimsy grounds has been the other common agenda of the Grand Alliance.