Vijayawada: Like most of the other segments in the state, Kaikaluru Assembly constituency is expected to see a close contest between the Telugu Desam and YSR Congress, with the Jana Sena trying to make an impact. Like more of the other segments in the state, it would be extremely difficult for any political observer to predict a winner.
Once a bastion of the Congress, which won the seat eight times, the BJP’s Kamineni Srinivas won the constituency in 2014 with the support of the TD and Jana Sena, the TD twice and independents three times.
Of the 1,95,784 voters in Kaikaluru, 95,672 are men and 98,104 women.
With Dr Srinivas not contesting in this election, the contest is between former MLA Jayamangala Venkataramana of the TD and Dulam Nageswara Rao of the YSRC.
Bucchaboina Venkateswara Rao of the Jana Sena, Keerthi Venkata Ramprasad of the BJP and N. Peter Paul of the Congress and nine Independents are also in the fray.
Numbering around 45,000, Kapus are the largest block of voters in the constituency, followed by 35,000 SC Mala and Madigas each. Yadava and Gowda voters number around 30,000 each. The Vaddi community (Kolleru fishermen, who migrated years ago from Odisha) number over 10,000 in the constituency.
In 2009, Mr Venkataramana who belongs to the Vaddi community won and the TD has fielded him again.
In 2014, Dr Srinivas trounced his political rival Ram Prasad Uppala of the YSRC, but this time around, his followers are expected to support YSRC candidate Ramprasad irrespective of the fact that he is a Kapu.
This would also split the Kamma vote between TD and YSRC.
The TD candidate is expected to get over 95 per cent of the Vaddi community vote, and also an overwhelming chunk of the Yadava and Gowda vote.
Also, a major chunk of the Kapu voters are expected to back the Jana Sena candidate B.V. Rao. If this happens, all calculations to predict the winner go out of the window.
Independent candidate Veerabattina Sudha too is expected to get enough votes to make a difference between victory and defeat of the frontrunners.
