YSRC’s Reddy Shanti Confident of Retaining Pathapatnam

Visakhapatnam: Sitting MLA and ruling party leader Reddy Shanti is confident of humbling the alliance nominee and first-timer Mamidi Givinda Rao in the Pathapatnam constituency.

Daughter of veteran Congress leader Palavalasa Rajasekhar, Reddy Shanti defeated Kalamata Venkata Ramana Murthy in the 2019 elections. Ramana Murthy is son of another veteran TD leader Kalamata Mohan Rao who laid a strong foundation for the party from its inception.

This election made Ramana Murthy a fall guy as he failed to get the ticket and he is now campaigning for Govinda Rao. He wanted to file nominations as an independent candidate but party chief Chandrababu Naidu made him president of the Srikakulam district party unit and promised to make him an MLC after TD wins power.

Kalamata Mohan Rao won the seat in 1989, 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004. His election in 1996 was nullified, this resulting in a bye-election. Laxmi Parvathi, wife of NT Rama Rao, won the election defeating Venamma Kalamata, wife of Mohan Rao.

Mohan Rao joined the Praja Rajyam Party in 2009 but his son Ramana Murthy continued in the TDP. But, before the 2014 elections, he joined the YSRC and defeated Shatrucharla Vijayaramaraju of TD.

Local leaders said Ramana Murthy made a mistake of joining back the TD in 2017 and still continuing in it. This development gave a chance to Reddy Shanti and she became the candidate for 2019 elections. She defeated Ramana Murthy by a margin of over 15,000 votes.

Local sources said Reddy Shanti turned complacent after winning the elections. Unlike her father, she failed to nurse the constituency, particularly the remote areas that are mostly inhabited by Adivasis.

Shanti told the media that she would be taking up drinking water supply projects and laying roads in tribal hamlets of Meliaputti and Kotthuru mandals after these elections and before the onset of the southwest monsoon season.

- Total Voters-2,24,801

- Male-1,12,097

- Female-1,12,696

- Third gender 10