Tenalians consider growth or wellbeing
In the Tenali Assembly seat, the governing YSRC and the JSP-TDP-BJP alliance are expected to engage in a tough contest. While incumbent YSRC MLA Annabathuni Sivakumar is desperate to hold onto the Tenali seat for a second term, JSP candidate Nadendla Manohar is adamant about winning it. Renowned for its rich and varied culture, Tenali—also referred to as Andhra Paris—has a particular position in the history of the Indian liberation movement.
People’s feeling of patriotism is still fostered by Ranarang Chowk, which has seven pillars built in remembrance of the martyrs who were shot dead by the British during the Quit India Movement.
The seat, one of the seven Assembly segments of the Guntur Lok Sabha constituency, was established in 1951 in accordance with the Delimitation Orders (1951).
Since the party that wins the Tenali seat would take power in the state, it is a constituency of feeling. The Congress party has won the Assembly sector, which included the mandals of Tenali and Kollipara, seven times since 1952. Five times, the TDP won the seat.
Three influential figures in the area were Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, Annabathuni Satyanarayana, and Alapati Venkataramaiah. For the last 20 years, their heirs, former Assembly Speaker Manohar, current YSRC MLA Sivakumar, and former TDP MLA Rajendra Prasad, have been ruling Tenali politics in their stead. On the Congress ticket, Manohar was elected as an MLA in 2004 and 2009.
The TDP’s Rajendra Prasad won an election in 2014. Sivakumar won the last election, defeating him. To the dismay of TDP constituency chief Rajendra Prasad, the JSP received Tenali as part of the tripartite alliance’s seat sharing. Despite his early disengagement from the election campaign, he eventually gave Manohar his entire support after being convinced by the party hierarchy. The JSP candidate is sure of winning because of the alliance’s backing. The YSRC stepped up its electioneering and focused on the welfare programs run by the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy administration, including providing 27,000 housesites and building essential infrastructure. The JSP and TDP are highlighting the fact that the tripartite coalition is the only way to see the Assembly constituency developed.
People’s reactions to the YSRC’s assertions and the tripartite alliance’s pledges were not entirely consistent.
“I received a house site at Jagananna Colony, a dream I never thought would be fulfilled,” said private school teacher K Ramana Priya. Additionally, the constituency’s progress during the previous five years was not too awful. In addition, Manohar had just begun visiting Tenali a few months before to the elections, having spent the previous fifteen years outside the area. We are looking for a leader who will always be at our disposal.
Goldsmith T Sambaiah expressed the opinion that had Rajendra Prasad been fielded, the TDP may have won the seat and profited from the anti-incumbency sentiment. “MLAs from the Congress, TDP, and YSRC have not been able to grow their constituency during the last 20 years. Politicians pledge to solve several long-standing problems during the election season, but they only follow through on a small number of them, he said.
