Rivals faceoff in Vijayawada East

Vijayawada: The two rivals Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru) and Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga’s son Vangaveeti Radha Krishna are in the fray from the same  constituency.

Nehru, a former MLA, is now contesting from Vijayawada East on a Congress ticket. Vangaveeti Radha Krishna is  testing his luck from the same constituency on a YSRC ticket.

Three decades ago, Nehru and Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga used to head rival camps. They marked their boundaries and carried out their operations. Unfortunately, both camps carried out murders and revenge killings. At one stage, their rivalry had rocked state politics too.

The leaders of the two camps emerged as popular leaders. Nehru was elected five times and Vangaveeti Ranga once. After he was  murdered, his wife Ratnakumari was elected twice, and his son  Vangaveeti Radha Krishna was also elected once.

Nehru was elected from the Kankipadu Assembly seat. Later, it split  into two, and now one part comes under the East Assembly seat. On the other hand Vangaveeti family members were elected four times from Vijayawada Central seat. However, now Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga’s son has shifted from Vijayawada Central to East constituency. Both the leaders contesting from the East constituency is an  interesting political development.

Nehru has support, but the Congress has lost its base after  bifurcation. Radha Krishna is backed by a strong Kapu vote bank and YSRC support. But these two leaders are involved in a  triangular fight with TD candidate Gadde Rammohan.