Kuppam, Chandrababu Naidu’s bastion, is a picture of neglect
Prior to the 1989 Lok Sabha election, a sizeable number of people in Chittoor district used to think that Kuppam, the tailend triState junction anked by Tamil Nadu in the east and Karnataka in the west, was part of one or the other of the two neighbouring States. When an employee of any government department gets transferred to the area, it was considered a punishment. Such was the state of backwardness in Kuppam, with no good roads, water supply, health facilities or educational institutions.
Under these conditions, N. Chandrababu Naidu, now Telugu Desam Party president, contested from the constituency as the TDP candidate when the late N.T. Rama Rao was its president in 1989.
Mr. Naidu carried the tag of “NTR’s son-in-law”, which brought Kuppam into the limelight, though the TDP had won the seat in the 1983 and 1985 byelections.
The TDP has never faced defeat in this constituency. Since 1989, Mr. Naidu has continued to be its MLA, and the 2024 election happens to be his eighth contest.
‘A VVIP constituency’
When Mr. Naidu became the Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh in 1995, Kuppam was transformed into a “VVIP constituency” overnight. From 1999 till the present election, Mr. Naidu has been following a unique trend — he would neither campaign for himself in Kuppam nor visit the place for ling nomination. He would just embark on a “thanksgiving” visit later.
During all his contests, Mr. Naidu’s majority counted the most — ranging between 75,000 votes in the 1990s to below 30,000 — in the 2019 election, in which he was the lone winner from the TDP in Chittoor district, where the party lost 13 seats to the YSR Congress Party.
As the MLA for Kuppam for the past 35 years and as a former Chief Minister, Mr. Naidu continues to invite criticism that despite his lofty standing, he has neglected Kuppam.
The criticism is due to the fact that when Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy became the Chief Minister in 2004, he focused on his Pulivendula constituency, bringing unprecedented development to the region, with government educational institutions, modernisation of health care and rural and urban infrastructure. The same was the case with Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was the last Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh and the undivided Chittoor constituency.
In contrast, Kuppam does not have a government engineering college even today. Except for the National Highway connecting Kuppam with Krishnagiri, the rural roads in the constituency are in a bad shape. Though a private medical college was set up in 2001, its teaching hospital remains only a referral hospital, and Mr. Naidu’s claim that he brought “a medical college” to Kuppam largely remains “unacceptable”. The Dravidian University, located 10 km from Kuppam, functional since 1999, at present, suers from various problems, including a paucity of sta, while the students’ admission has dropped by over 70%.
Though Mr. Naidu kept promising that the HandriNeeva Sujala Sravanthi water would be brought to Kuppam, it remains a distant dream, with works being incomplete.
With no drinking or irrigation water source, the agriculture sector takes a severe beating each season. By a cooler climate, the region is saved by oriculture and horticulture crops. Surrounded by the Koundinya Elephant Sanctuary in the north, the forests of Maharajakadai in Tamil Nadu, and the Bannerghatta forests of Karnataka, the Kuppam region is home to some 200 elephants, both residents and migrants. This results in severe crop damage and human-wildlife conict in the region. Though it has been a big issue for a decade and a half, no action plan has worked so far.
Kuppam also faces an unemployment situation, with over 18,000 families depending on the neighbouring areas of Hosur, Kolar, and Bengaluru for a livelihood as daily wagers and migrant workers.
Under these conditions, the YSR Congress Party which defeated the TDP in the Kuppam municipal, territorial constituencies and panchayat elections in 2019, is going with the slogan — “Why Not Kuppam” akin to its “Why not 175” (the number of Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh). While Mr. Naidu visited Kuppam about 20 times between 2019 and 2024, his political rival and Forest Minister (of YSRCP) Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy visited Kuppam over 100 times, strengthening the party cadres, and vowing to defeat Mr. Naidu this time.
Kuppam is predominantly populated by the backward classes, taking a share of about 70% of votes, coming from Kuraba, Gandla, and Agnikula Kshatriya , followed by the Scheduled Caste and forward castes. Mr. Naidu’s opponent is sitting MLC K.J.R. Bharath, who was defeated in 2019. Both Mr. Jagan and Mr. Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy came out with a promise that Mr. Bharath would be made a Cabinet Minister if they elect him in 2024.
Despite severe backwardness, Kuppam continues to be the bastion of Mr. Naidu, rather than that of the TDP. This election is once again seen as a contest between “Naidu’s mantra” and the diehard hopes of Jagan to defeat the former. The Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls will be held simultaneously in the State on May 13.
The TDP chief, who has been the MLA of Kuppam since 1989 faces a resurgent YSRCP in A.P. polls