Keen to reclaim the Cheepurupalli segment from Botcha, Telugu Desam

The two prominent leaders of Cheepurupalli, Botcha Satyanarayana and Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao, who are from the same community (Turpu Kapu), are facing off in the next elections, which has intensified the political environment in the area. Botcha, however, spent over 15 years as a minister, MP in the Lok Sabha, and PCC president in the former Andhra Pradesh. In contrast, Kala Venkata Rao held positions as TTD Chairman, Rajya Sabha MP, TDP State President, and Minister for over ten years after the party’s split.

It should be mentioned that Turpu Kapu has historically dominated the Cheepurupalli sector, with a population of about 70%. Conversely, Yadava, SC, OC, and other BC groups have been influential in deciding the candidates’ outcomes.

Up till 2004, the Cheepurupalli Assembly segment was regarded as one of the TDP’s strongholds. From 1983 until 1999, the yellow party won five consecutive seats with the backing of the electorate. But in the 2004 and 2009 elections, Congress senior leader Botcha Satyanarayana destroyed the TDP’s fortification, and from 2004 to 2014, he was minister of housing, panchayat raj, and transportation.

Later, in the 2014 elections, he lost the seat to TDP candidate Kimidi Mrunalini after widespread public opposition to the splitting of the State. She was a minister in Chandrababu Naidu’s government, responsible for rural development. The TDP high command decided to present Nagarjuna, the son of Kimidi Mrunalini, in 2019. However, he was defeated by Botcha Satyanarayana, the YSRC candidate.

The TDP high command first suggested Ganta Srinivasa Rao as their candidate for the Cheepurupalli sector, determined to win the seat in the 2024 elections and remove Botcha’s political hegemony in the district. The TDP chose Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao as their candidate for the seat after it was allegedly revealed that Ganta had refused to leave Visakhapatnam.

The TDP chief Kimidi Nagarjuna’s supporters are furiously opposed to this action since it denies him the ticket. However, since Kala Venkata Rao is Nagarjuna’s biological cousin, the party high leadership is certain that the cadre would support his candidacy.

The Cheepurupalli, Gurla, Garividi, and Merakamudidam mandals make up the Cheepurupalli Assembly seat.

This area is one of the district’s rain-fed constituencies. As there are no other supplies of water for cultivation, the farmers have been dependent on the Thotapalli reservoir. The Sardar Gouthu Latchanna Thotapalli Barrage was started by the previous administration under Chandrababu Naidu, but since the branch canals were not finished, the people living in this area were not able to obtain irrigated water. Additionally, the YSRC administration in power was unable to finish building the branch canals.

Furthermore, even though the leaders of the Youth Social Council (YSRC) were adamantly against the Rural Electric Cooperative Society (RECS) at Cheepurupalli being merged into the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) prior to the elections, they were left silent when the RECS was merged into APEPDCL following the YSRC’s election victory.

It should be mentioned that many residents of the Cheepurupalli, Garividi, and Merakamudidam mandals have been able to support themselves thanks to six ferro alloy industries situated in these mandals.

Four of these ferro alloy businesses were forced to close, nevertheless, due to the government raising the cost of electricity from $5.01 to $8.59 per unit. Even though the lockout at two of the enterprises was lifted a few days ago, the other two are still closed.

Based on the government’s social programs, the leaders of the governing YSRC are optimistic about winning the next elections. Throughout his campaign, Botcha Satyanarayana never made any explicit electoral pledges. He did, however, promise to address any problems inside the area.

In contrast, Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao, the TDP candidate, is certain that his experience would aid the party in winning despite the government’s shortcomings in the constituency’s growth.

“The development of Cheepurupalli was disregarded by the ruling YSRC government,” he said. The current administration believes that providing a family with ~10 under social programs and getting ~90 in return represents growth. In addition to raising the living conditions of women, young people, and farmers, I have plans for the constituency’s growth.