The Guntur West Assembly constituency, which had produced some of the tallest leaders in the State such as Chebrolu Hanumaiah, Kotha Raghuramaiah, Yelamanchili Sivaji etc, is witnessing a keen triangular contest. What spices up the contest is the fact none of the three candidates had ever won an election.
While Ch. Yesuratnam (former DIG, SPF, YSRCP) and Thota Chandrasekhar (former IAS officer, JSP) have experience in public administration, industrialist Maddalai Giridhar (TDP) is testing his luck for the second successive time.
With just days to go for the polling, the three candidates have launched a spirited campaign to cover the city. Mr. Yesuratnam seemed to have an early edge as he began campaigning six months back but the sudden entry of Mr. Chandrasekhar has added a dimension. Mr. Giridhar, face of the influential Vyasya community, is a surprise candidate fielded by the TDP.
The YSRCP has taken a gamble by fielding Mr. Yesuratnam, a candidate from the BC community, against the resourceful TDP and JSP candidates. The last-minute entry of Modugula Venugopala Reddy, a TDP MLA from this segment, as the YSRCP MP candidate for Guntur seemed to bring in some viguor in the campaigning.
Post bifurcation, the city’s skyline has undergone a drastic change.
The proximity to Capital Amaravati has raised hopes of a fast-paced development, but the ruling party seemed to have failed to cash in on the positive wave by not holding the municipal elections. It had clearly demoralised the cadre and could play a vital role in the elections. Further, the delay in grounding the underground drainage work, which had heaped misery on the people and the death of 25 persons due to cholera after leaks in the drain lines in Old Guntur, seemed to have placed the ruling part on the back foot.
But the segment remains a stronghold of the TDP with the presence of a large number of voters belonging to the Kamma community. The town is home to significant number of voters belonging to the minorities, which could play a key role in deciding the winner.
Total no of voters: 2,65,135
Men - 1,29,543
Women - 1,35,551
Others - 50
Total - 2,65,135