Vijayawada: Battle-hardened duo gears up for fight in Jaggaiahpet

Vijayawada : Jaggaiahpet Assembly constituency in NTR district is expected to witness fierce political battle between the two senior leaders in the ensuing Assembly elections.

The YSRCP is likely to field the sitting MLA Samineni Udaya Bhanu. He was elected thrice from Jaggaiahpet and has a large number of supporters and followers. He is likely to face the TDP candidate Sriram Tataiah, who was elected twice from Jaggaiahpet and is the front runner to get the ticket from TDP.

These two leaders are enjoying power in Jaggaiahpet for over two decades. Now, the TDP and Jana Sena alliance may field Sriram Tataiah and YSRCP likely to field Udaya Bhanu.

Jaggaiahpet voters have tendency of electing same candidate two or times. Udaya Bhanu was elected on behalf of Congress Party in 1999 and 2004 and on YSRCP ticket in 2019. He narrowly missed the berth in the state Cabinet in the present government.

Based on caste equations, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had opted for Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani) as minister. Both Udaya Bhanu and Perni Nani are Kapu leaders. Perni Nani got the portfolio of transport minister. Udaya Bhanu maintained good relationship with his supporters and followers over two decades. It is one of the reasons for his success in the political career.

On the other hand, Sriram Tataiah was elected twice in 2009 and 2014 respectively. Tataiah hails from Arya Vysya caste and has huge number of followers and supporters in Jaggaiahpet Assembly constituency.

Sriram Tataiah is the co-ordinator of the Jaggaiahpet constituency and may be fielded by the TDP for the third time in a row. Both leaders all well-versed in poll strategies and election management.

Both leaders are organising canteens and serving food to the poor. TDP leader Tataiah has been running Anna canteen for more than a year. Sitting MLA Udaya Bhanu too is running a canteen and serving free food.

Jaggaiahpet is the stronghold for both TDP and the YSRCP. Kamma, Kapu, BC and Muslim voters are in sizeable numbers and play vital role in deciding the fate of contestants. The two leaders are already meeting the people and slowly picking up the poll campaign.