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Cake-walk for AP CM in Kuppam

Shireen in Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu may have a cake-walk in his constituency -- Kuppam-- in the first phase of assembly poll scheduled on September 5, as he faces a dummy candidate of the Congress in a three-cornered contest.

Chandrababu's two rivals are Congress nominee M Subramanyam Reddy, a primary agricultural co-operative society president, and Anna-Telugu Desam Party candidate B R Doraswamy Naidu, a former legislator.

The Congress had no choice but to clear the candidature of the dummy candidate after the official candidate and former member of Parliament M Gnanendra Reddy opted out of the race on August 17.

Gnanendra Reddy was sore with the party high command for not giving him the ticket for the Chittoor Lok Sabha seat. He was reluctant to jump into the poll fray in the Kuppam assembly constituency as he felt he would become a 'sacrificial goat'.

The state Congress leadership had recommended his name to the party high command in a bid to give a tough fight to Chandrababu Naidu.

Kuppam elected Chandrababu Naidu twice -- in 1989 and 1994. The backward constituency abutting two states -- Tamil Nadu and Karnataka -- has proved to be a TDP stronghold since 1983.

The constituency has returned TDP nominees in four successive elections. The last time a Congress candidate was elected from there was in 1978 when B R Doraswamy Naidu trounced his Janata Party rival.

Nandigam Rangaswamy Naidu was elected on a TDP ticket in 1983 and 1985. In 1989, Chandrababu Naidu successfully contested from the constituency and defeated his Congress rival Doraswamy Naidu by a margin of 6,918 votes.

In the 1994 poll, Chandrababu Naidu was re-elected, trouncing his Congress rival R Gopinath with a massive majority of 56,588 votes.

Gnanendra Reddy, who was elected to the Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket in 1989 and 1991, was however denied the party ticket in the 1996 Lok Sabha poll. He was fielded in 1998 but lost to TDP candidate N K Ramakrishna Reddy.

This time, former legislator R Gopinath has been fielded by the Congress for the Lok Sabha seat ignoring Gnanendra Reddy's claims.

The Anna TDP, formed by Nandamuri Harikrishna, son of TDP founder Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, has decided to nominate B R Doraswamy Naidu, who recently defected from the Congress.

Harikrishna has vowed to ensure the defeat of his brother-in-law Chandrababu Naidu in the poll to avenge his humiliation by the chief minister after 'using' him in the family and party coup against NTR in 1995.

Incidentally, Kuppam is one of the seven assembly segments of the Chittoor Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress was never able to secure a lead in this assembly segment in the successive Lok Sabha elections (1984, 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1998).

The Chittoor seat itself was won by the TDP thrice (1984, 1996 and 1998) and by the Congress only twice (1989 and 1991) in the last 15 years.

In the 1996 Lok Sabha election, the TDP got 86,783 votes in the Kuppam segment alone. In the 1998 Lok Sabha poll, the TDP polled 81,160 votes in the Kuppam segment, whereas the Congress got 22,323 votes and the BJP secured only 12,567 votes.

Chandrababu Naidu, who was elected to the assembly for the first time on a Congress ticket from his native constituency, Chandragiri, in 1978, however, lost to a little-known TDP rival from the same segment in the 1983 assembly polls.

Subsequently, Chandrababu Naidu joined the TDP and emerged as a key advisor to his father-in-law and the late N T Rama Rao. He did not contest the 1985 assembly poll and shifted to Kuppam, a safer constituency, in the 1989 election.

Today, Kuppam is beholden to Chandrababu for ensuring its all-round development in the last 10 years, more so in the last four years after he became the chief minister. Even as the finance minister in his father-in-law N T Rama Rao's ministry during 1994-95, Chandrababu Naidu sanctioned new schemes for his constituency.

Since September 1995, Kuppam has been receiving massive infusion of public funds for developmental and infrastructural activities.

For the 161,905 voters of Kuppam, the ensuing election is a 'god-sent' opportunity to express their gratitude to Chandrababu Naidu by enabling him to perform a hat-trick.

The state Congress leadership is unhappy that the party would only be giving a token fight to Chandrababu Naidu.

"Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y S Rajasekhar Reddy had launched a personal tirade against Chandrababu and he wanted to ensure his defeat in Kuppam. But YSR ended up doing exactly the opposite. By fielding a dummy candidate, the Congress will only be contributing to the huge majority of Chandrababu. We are giving up Kuppam without a fight and stand to lose the Chittoor Lok Sabha seat for the third time in the bargain," a senior Congress leader lamented.

Anna-TDP president Nandamuri Harikrishna has also vowed to ensure the defeat of Chandrababu Naidu in Kuppam. Harikrishna has included Kuppam in his itinerary for campaigning. Doraswamy Raju, the Anna TDP candidate, also has good following in the area.

However, Chandrababu Naidu is not taking any chances. His party workers are exerting themselves to secure a record majority for their leader.

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