Annamayya District To Be Reshaped As Madanapalle Emerges New HQ
Rayachoti loses HQ status as Assembly segments are reassigned in a major reorganisation
Anantapur: The three-and-a-half-year-old Annamayya district is set to undergo a complete geographical transformation following the state Cabinet’s decision to reorganise districts, with Madanapalle emerging as a newly proposed district headquarters and the existing contours of Annamayya district effectively altered.
Originally formed on April 4, 2022, by the previous YSRC government, Annamayya district was carved out of parts of the erstwhile Chittoor and Kadapa districts, using the Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency as the basis for its boundaries. Though Rajampet was the parliamentary segment around which the district was created, Rayachoti was chosen as the district headquarters despite demands for Rajampet to be named the HQ.
Under the Rajampet parliamentary constituency, the Assembly segments of Rajampet, Railway Koduru and Rayachoti from the erstwhile Kadapa district, and Thamballapalle, Pileru and Madanapalle from the former Chittoor district, were included in Annamayya district.
However, as part of the latest district reorganisation, the Cabinet has decided to significantly redraw these boundaries. Railway Koduru Assembly segment will be merged with Tirupati district, Rajampet Assembly segment will go to the present YSR Kadapa district, and Rayachoti will no longer serve as a district headquarters as Madanapalle is proposed to be developed as a new district HQ. Despite these sweeping changes, the name Annamayya district is to be retained.
The decision has triggered sharp political reactions, particularly from the YSRC, which accused the TDP-led government of insulting Saint Annamayya. Saint Annamayya, a 15th-century poet-saint from Tallapaka in the Rajampet region, composed over 33,000 sankirtanas in praise of Lord Venkateswara. YSRC leaders argued that shifting Rajampet — closely associated with Saint Annamayya — out of Annamayya district amounted to disrespect.
Transport minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy, who represents the Rayachoti Assembly segment, has come under fire from the YSRC and Joint Action Committees for failing to convince Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to retain Rayachoti as the district headquarters. This is despite the minister having earlier assured residents through a selfie video that Rayachoti would continue as the HQ.
After the Cabinet meeting on Monday, Ramprasad Reddy was reportedly seen in tears, visuals of which went viral on social media. He has not responded publicly to questions regarding his earlier assurances or the Cabinet’s decision.
YSRC general secretary and former Rayachoti MLA G. Srikanth Reddy accused Chandrababu Naidu of cheating the people of Rayachoti. “Naidu himself announced during the general election campaign at Rayachoti that the district headquarters would remain. Now he has hurt people for political reasons,” Srikanth Reddy alleged, demanding that Ramprasad Reddy resign for failing to uphold his promise. He further alleged that the government had insulted Saint Annamayya on the holy day of Vaikunta Ekadasi.
Another YSRC leader, Rachamallu Prasad Reddy, criticised the practice of redrawing districts with every change of government, stating that the previous Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government had created districts based strictly on parliamentary constituencies to ensure administrative stability.
