Gannavaram famous for producing stalwarts

Vijayawada : Gannavaram Assembly constituency in Krishna district has a great history of electing stalwarts like Comrade Puchalapalli Sundarayya and Congress senior leader Kakani Venkata Ratnam.

Political enlightenment is more in the constituency and voters may reject any big leader and give verdict in favour of Independent candidate.

Gannavaram is located at a key position and connects three districts NTR, West Godavari and Krishna. Senior Communist leader Puchalapalli Sundarayya was elected three times from Gannavaram - 1955, 1962 and 1978.

His record remains intact as no other leader was elected thrice from the constituency. Sundaryya was known for his discipline and vast socio, economic and political knowledge. He was instrumental in the development of the Communist party along with other national leaders.

Kakani Venkata Ratnam, a senior Congress leader, was elected from Gannavaram in 1968. He had also worked as the PCC chief during his distinguished political career.

Gannavaram voters have elected the candidates representing various parties including the Congress, Communists, TDP and Independents also. The voters elected Independents when the individual candidates were denied tickets by the leadership of a political party.

It has total electorate of 2,58,031 voters. Gannavaram voters are known for their political wisdom and to choose the candidates who they think will deliver the goods.

Backward Classes, Kammas, Arya Vysyas, Reddy and SC voters constitute sizeable number of voters in Gannavaram constituency. The constituency has urban, semi-urban and rural voters and it is popular for small-scale industries that are located at Mallavalli, Surayapalem and Veerapaneni gudem etc.

Gannavaram was a Communist bastion in 1970s. Subsequently the voters in the constituency favoured the Congress party and later the TDP after its formation in 1983.

TDP candidate Vallabhaneni Vamsi was elected twice from Gannavaram in 2014 and 2019 and later he switched over his loyalty to the YSRCP. Later, he became strong critic of the TDP and its leaders.

Vamsi had defeated YSRCP candidate Yarlagadda Venkata Rao by a margin of 990 votes in 2019. Vamsi got 1,04,704 votes and Yarlagadda Venkata Rao secured in 1,02,714 votes. Vamsi defeated YSRCP leader Dutta Ramachandra Rao in 2014 by a margin of 9,548 votes. Vamsi polled 99,163 votes and Ramachandra Rao got 89,615 votes.

Dasari Balavardhana Rao, a senior TDP leader, was elected twice from Gannavaram constituency in 1999 and 2009 respectively. He has a strong bond with the people of the constituency.

Musunuru Ratna Bose was elected for the first time on the TDP ticket in 1983 after legendary actor N T Rama Rao floated the party. He was elected again in 1989 as the Congress party candidate.

Gadde Rammohan was elected to the Assembly from Gannavaram in 1994 as an Independent. He won the elections by defeating TDP candidate Dasari Balavardhana Rao by a margin of 10,703 votes. Gadde Rammohan got 45,824 votes and Dasari Balavardhana Rao secured 35,121 votes. Rammohan Rao aspired for the TDP ticket, but the party had chosen Dasari Balavardhana Rao.

Polling was held 15 times to Gannavaram Assembly constituency since its formation in 1955. The TDP candidates won six times. The Congress candidates were elected four times. CPM candidate Puchalapalli Sundaraiah was elected three times.

Congress leader Velivela Seetaramaiah was elected in 1967, another party leader TS Anandababu in 1972 and TDP candidate M Balakrishna Rao was elected in 1985.

Gannavaram is famous for its international airport. Vijayawada international airport is located in Gannavaram.

During the regime of Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, an IT park was set up in Gannavaram to give big boost to the IT sector. Unfortunately, the IT Park lacks development and IT companies are not coming forward to set up offices.