Anantapur: YSRCP has edge over TDP due to dissensions in urban wing

Anantapur: Anantapur Urban constituency registered 69 per cent polling, even though most of the voters are educated, employees of government and private educational institutions. The urban constituency also has a sizeable number of weaker sections population and more than 100 large slums, both in the city and on the outskirts.

In 2014 elections, TDP candidate V Prabhakar Choudhury won over YSRCP candidate Gurunath Reddy, who served as MLA during 2009-14. However, in 2019, Congress former MP Anantha Venkatarama Reddy contested as YSRCP MLA candidate from Anantapur Urban constituency and won over TDP candidate Prabhakar Choudhury.

Anantha Venkatarama Reddy contested again for a second inning as MLA competing TDP candidate Daggubati Prasad, who is new to the constituency.

Senior TDP leader and ex MLA Prabhakar Choudhury deeply disappointed with the selection of Daggubati as the MLA candidate and did not campaign for him. Many of his followers vowed to vote for YSRCP and did not participate in the party campaigns.

YSRCP candidate Anantha Reddy was a senior Parliamentarian and a five-time MP. He is well connected with the people of the constituency for over three decades. Dissension in the TDP camp over ignoring a senior leader had vertically split the party followers and many of them were silent and did not show enthusiasm to work for the party candidate's victory.

Hence, it seems that YSRCP has an edge over TDP as the leaders supporting Choudhury in fact worked against official candidate Daggubati. Besides, lower voter turnout in Urban constituency in 2024 elections compared to 2019 also may work against TDP candidate.