Weavers to dictate fate of political heirs competing for Venkatagiri Assembly seat
Former Chief Minister Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy’s son Ramkumar and former TDP MLA Kurugondla Ramakrishna’s daughter Lakshmi Sai Priya are in the fray from YSRCP and TDP respectively, hoping that the political legacy of their families will strike a chord
Venkatagiri Assembly constituency is geared to witness a keen fight between the YSRCP and the TDP, which have fielded novices from established political families.
The constituency is traditionally considered a TDP stronghold, making leaders including Nallareddy Chandrasekhar Reddy (1983), V. Bhaskara Saikrishna Yachendra (1985), Velugoti Raja Yachendra (1994), and Kurugondla Ramakrishna (2009 and 2014) win the seat.
On the other hand, Congress candidate and former Chief Minister Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy wrested the seat from the TDP in 1989, and his wife N. Rajyalakshmi won it in 1999 and 2004.
The 2022 district reorganisation exercise brought the bordering constituency from SPSR Nellore into the fold of Tirupati district.
Now, Mr. Janardhan Reddy’s son Nedurumalli
Ramkumar and former TDP MLA Ramakrishna’s daughter Lakshmi Sai Priya are in the fray from the YSRCP and the TDP, respectively. Though Mr. Ramkumar is the YSRCP district president, it is his first direct election.
Both candidates expect their political legacies to work in their favour.
The constituency’s sizeable weaver population deserves a better deal in terms of State support, which remained glaringly insufficient over the decades.
Though the manpower handling the looms hail from different social backgrounds, the weaver community accounts for 18,000 votes, forming a larger chunk of the BC vote pie of 40,000 votes. The Kammas account for 20,000, Reddys form 18,000 votes, SC voters are 58,000, and the ST community has 10,000 voters.
Hence, the candidates’ manifesto must be tilted towards weaver welfare, such as upskilling the artisans, convincing them to look beyond the routine, and making trendy designs. Though the TDP is strong in Venkatagiri and Balayapalle mandals, it faces an uphill battle in Kaluvoy, Dakkili and Saidapuram mandals, which remained a Congress forte earlier and are now a YSRCP bastion.