TIRUPATI: The Punganur Assembly constituency in Chittoor district would witness a high-voltage triangular contest involving three candidates with the same first name – Ramachandra.
The YSRC has renominated sitting MLA and minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, who won the seat thrice in a row since 2009. The Telugu Desam is fielding former TTD board member Challa Ramachandra Reddy, popularly known as Challa Babu. Bharat Chaitanya Yuvajana (BCY) chief Bode Ramachandra Yadav would also throw his hat in the ring.
Punganur is among AP’s high-profile seats. Between 1952 and 1978, the constituency was a Congress bastion barring 1955 when independent candidate Y.B.V. Chikarayulu, the zamindar of Punganur, emerged victorious. In 1983, bus conductor B. Gopal resigned his job to contest on a TD ticket and scored a thumping win.
The TD continued its winning streak with Nuthana Kalva Ramakrishna Reddy elected in the 1985, 1989 and 1994 polls. In 1996, Ramakrishna Reddy's son Amarnath Reddy won the by-poll but the party lost to the Congress in 1999 and Sridhar Reddy was elected.
TD re-possessed the seat in 2004 but ceded it to the Congress in 2009, and the YSRC in 2014 and 2019. Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy made Punganur a YSRC fortress since 2009.
However, the TD always managed to have a strong base of 70,000-80,000 votes in the constituency despite finishing runner-up. In 2019, Peddireddy secured 1,07,431 votes, against the 63,876 votes for the TD and 16,452 for BCY's Ramachandra Yadav, who was then representing the Jana Sena.
The TD is now banking on the anti-incumbency wave and its alliance with Jana Sena to gain from the BC and other vote banks for an upset win.
TD's Challa Babu has exuded confidence that the opposition consolidation would help dislodge the powerful incumbent. BCY's Bode Ramchandra is hoping to capitalize on the sizeable Yadava vote share.
The pitched three-way fight in Punganur would see both parties pulling out all the stops to win the seat, in the form of a marquee clash with high viewership.
