TIRUPATI: The battle for the Nagari Assembly constituency is shaping up to be a political thriller. Actor-turned politician and incumbent MLA R.K. Roja locks horns with dynast Gali Bhanu Prakash in a bid to defend her turf.
With factionalism rearing its head within Roja's party ranks and the Gali scion striving to rekindle his family's clout in the region, the stage is set for an intense electoral showdown.
Roja is aiming for an unprecedented hat-trick of electoral victories. She defied the odds to win the polls in 2014 against Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu of the TD by a margin of 858 votes. She retained the seat in 2019 by defeating his son Bhanu Prakash by 2,708 votes.
Roja now faces her toughest battle yet as rumblings of dissent emerge from within her own party cadres. Despite her claims of achievements for Nagari's development, she faced negative publicity that added to her discomfiture caused by infighting within the YSRC. She has drawn flak from her own party leaders across multiple mandals, and they are vowing to ensure her defeat.
"The negativity doesn't faze me one bit. My bond with the constituents here remains rock-solid, given their first-hand experience of the YSRC government's performance," asserts Roja.
"However, I can't deny that this election will be an uphill climb due to the backstabbing from certain quarters. I'm well aware of my support base in the constituency, and my voters are keen to retain me as their MLA”.
Bhanu Prakash is banking on the political capital of his family's four-decades reign in the constituency to reclaim the seat. Having tasted his first electoral defeat against Roja in 2019, Bhanu is now going full throttle by focussing his campaign on the TD's 'Super Six' schemes promising financial security to the underprivileged.
Drawing strength from his father Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu's legacy as a six-term MLA, Cabinet minister and the driving force behind Nagari's infrastructural strides for over three decades until his demise, Bhanu exudes confidence in his ability to outmanoeuvre Roja's juggernaut.
"My father's track record is a testimony to the transformative development he brought in across all sectors in the Nagari constituency," claims Bhanu.
