Adoni lags behind in literacy rate

Kurnool (Adoni): Adoni is a municipality and is the headquarters of Adoni mandal. It is said to be founded by Chandrasen in 1300 BC and later came into mediaeval Kingdom of Vijayanagaram which flourished from 14th to 16th centuries.

Later the fort became a stronghold of Muslim kings of the Adil Shahi Dynasty of Bijapur and Golkonda. In 1690, the fort was captured by Aurangzeb. Subsequently, in the 18th century Tipu Sultan captured it before it was taken over by the British in 1799.

Adoni constituency was established in 1951. The name was derived from "Adonai" which means "The Lord" in Hebrew. Adoni is an important trading centre with a large market situated in the centre of the town and is also known as the second Mumbai as it is the hub for all types of business.

Adoni is a large producer of cotton and has a substantial ginning and textile industry. There is a big market yard in the town with which the town is called as the Town of Cotton or Grain Market of South India.

In 1867 AD, the Adoni Municipal Council was created along with the Bellary Municipal Council. These two were the only municipal townships in the whole of Bellary district for a long time. On October 1, 1953, Bellary district of Madras State was divided on linguistic basis and Adoni along with Yemmiganur, Alur, Rayadurgam, D Heerehaalu, Kanekallu, Bommanahallu and Gummagattu were merged into Anantapuram and Kurnool district.

Adoni is famous for the Yogi Maha Lakshmamma Avva. Though the constituency has become famous due to various factors, it still lags behind in development. In entire Adoni, there are no wide roads. There are around 30 villages in the mandal. literacy rate is very low.

The total voters of Adoni is 2,53,844. Of the total voters strength, 1,26,764 are male, 1,27,032 female and 48 third gender. Majority of the population belong to the Backward Classes (BC) community who are the deciding factor in every election. Except on three occasions, the BCs have become MLAs. Reddy’s managed to win the Adoni MLA seat thrice.

H Satyanarayana of the Indian National Congress (INC) became the first MLA in 1972. He defeated his rival Independent candidate C Shankar Rao with a margin of 11,086 votes. Satyanarayana secured 23,605 votes while Shankar Rao got 12,519 votes.

Similarly, in 1978 again H Satyanarayana was elected as MLA. This time he contested from INC (I) and defeated H Seetharami Reddy of INC. Satyanarayana got 25,872 votes while Seetharami Reddy secured 13,494 votes. Reddy lost the election by a margin of 12,378 votes. In 1983, Independent candidate N Prakash Jain became MLA. He contested against Congress candidate H Satyanarayana.

In the next election in 1985, Rayachoti Ramaiah of INC defeated Panduranga Rao of TDP with a margin of 10,053 votes. Ramaiah got 44,886 votes while Panduranga Rao got 34,833 votes.

In 1989 again Rayachoti Ramaiah (INC) was elected as MLA. His rival K M Meenakshi Naidu (TDP) lost the seat with a margin of 9,069 votes. In 1994, K Meenakshi Naidu (TDP) won the seat. He defeated his rival Rayachoti Ramaiah (INC) by a margin of 16,591 votes. Again in 1999, K Meenakshi Naidu contested from TDP and became MLA for the second time.

In 2004, Y Sai Prasad Reddy (INC) was elected as MLA. In 2009, TDP candidate K Meenakshi Naidu was elected by defeating his opponent Y Sai Prasad Reddy of INC with a margin of 256 votes.

In 2014 and 2019, Y Sai Prasad Reddy of YSRCP was elected as MLA against K Meenakshi Naidu of TDP.

With fast changing political equations now, the TDP is putting its best efforts to win the hearts of the voters. With the recent Yuva Galam padayayatra of Nara Lokesh the voters in the constituency seem to be more inclined towards the TDP.

The present YSRCP MLA Y Sai Prasad Reddy has faced bitter experience from the residents of several villages during his ‘Gadapa Gadapa Ku YSRCP’ programme. He failed to address the problems raised by the residents. This may put adverse impact on the party, say political experts.