Jagan targets Congress vote bank in Seemandhra

HYDERABAD: In what could be seen as an all-out effort to woo the Congress vote-bank, YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has picked candidates for the ensuing elections in Seemandhra in such a manner that most of them are either Reddys, Kapus or from the weaker sections.

Jagan released the first list of his candidates for 24 Lok Sabha and 170 Assembly seats in Seemandhra on Monday. Jagan will contest for an Assembly seat for the first time from Pulivendula, his family bastion, while his mother Vijayalakshmi has been fielded in the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency.

Though Jagan's sister Sharmila missed out, his cousin Avinash Reddy has been fielded for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat while his uncle YV Subba Reddy will test his luck in Ongole Lok Sabha constituency. Jagan's uncle and former Kadapa mayor P Ravindranath Reddy has given party ticket for the Kamalapuram Assembly seat.

Of the 24 LS candidates, nine are Reddys and six Kapus, indicating that Jagan prepared his list not only to consolidate his vote-bank but also woo the influential Kapu community in Seemandhra, which had till recently stood solidly behind the Congress.

He chose to field Shanthi, daughter of senior politico P Rajasekhar, who belongs to Thurpu Kapus ' a dominant community in North Andhra ' in Srikakulam. RVSKK Ranga Rao alias Baby Nayana, brother of former MLA R Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao, has been fielded in the Vizianagaram LS constituency.

Jagan opted to field Gudivada Amarnath, son of former minister Gurnatha Rao, for the Anakapalli LS seat. Chelamalasetti Sunil, an NRI and industrialist, has been picked for the Kakinada LS segment. Sunil had unsuccessfully contested for the same seat on Praja Rajyam ticket in 2009. Thota Chandrasekhar, former IAS officer, who also contested on a PRP ticket in 2009, has been fielded for the Eluru LS seat.

Jagan bet on former minister Pinipe Viswaroop and Boddu Venkata Ramana Chowdary, son of former TDP leader Bhaskara Rama Rao, for Amalapuram (SC) and Rajahmundry LS seats respectively.

He selected businessmen such as Vanka Ravindra, Koneru Prasad and Alla Ayodyarami Reddy for Narasapur, Vijayawada and Narsaraopet LS segments respectively. Same is the case with B Renuka, party candidate for Kurnool LS seat and D Sreedhar Reddy in Hindupur.

Former minister K Parthasaradhi has succeeded in securing nomination for the Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency. Former MP Bala Shouri has been nominated for Guntur Lok Sabha constituency and MP SPY Reddy for Nandyala.

MPs Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and Anantha Venkatarami Reddy have also been renominated from Nellore and Ananthapur LS segments respectively. Former minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy's son Mithun Reddy has given Rajampet LS ticket.

Jagan tried to keep several Congress MLAs, who had joined his party in the past one year, in good humour by allotting tickets to a majority of them.

Interestingly, the YSRC chief preferred not to give tickets to some of the seniors such as MV Mysoora Reddy, Dadi Veerabhadra Rao, Konathala Ramakrishna and Ummareddy Venkateswarlu.

He, however, tried to satisfy them by fielding their kin for the Assembly seats. For instance, Veerabhadra Rao's son Ratnakar and Konathala's brother Raghu have been fielded for Visakhapatnam West and Ankapalli Assembly segments.

Similarly, TDP leader Nannapaneni Rajakumari's daughter Sudha has been fielded for Venukonda Assembly seat. The YSRC boss chose to nominate film actress Roja from Nagari and also picked film director Petla Puri Jagannadh's brother Uma Shankar Ganesh as the party candidate for Narasipatnam Assembly seat.

Meanwhile, Jagan appears to have entertained the pleas of some of his party leaders to consider 'family packages' while allotting tickets. For instance, former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao has been fielded for Srikakulam Assembly seat whereas his brother Krishnadas is in the fray in Narsannapeta Assembly segment.