<p>YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy is fighting Assembly polls for the first time, contesting from Pulivendula seat in native Kadapa district, hoping to be the chief minister of the residual Andhra Pradesh. <br /></p>.<p>Pulivendula has been a stronghold for the YS Rajasekhar Reddy family who have represented the Assembly segment since 1978 when YSR won the election for Congress by defeating D Narayana Reddy of Janata Party. In 1999, YSR’s brother YS Vivekananda Reddy won the seat, in 1991 his paternal uncle YS Purushotham Reddy and in 2009 and 2011 by-elections, YS Vijayamma retained the seat. YSR won the seat six times, the last time he did was with 1,03,556 votes.<br /><br />“It was during the YSR rule that this barren land saw development. JNTU Pulivendula campus was established, several cotton spinning mills and cement bag manufacturing units and an outer ring road have come up,” says YS Bhaskar Reddy, who heads YSRC Pulivendula unit. <br /><br />Bhaskar Reddy, who runs the YSRC party affairs here, alleged that governments after YSR’s death neglected the Jalayagnam project under which the Gandikota project was taken up to mitigate drinking water. <br /><br />The fight for the seat is between Jaganmohan Reddy and the TDP candidate Satish Kumar Reddy. The Congress has fielded a block level leader Rajagopal Reddy. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Jai Samaikyaandhra Party (JSP) fielded Ramakrishna Reddy of Vempally, a last minute entry to the fray. Jaganmohan Reddy’s road show after he filed the nomination here on 17 April was a success, giving the local leaders confidence that he would register straight victories in 26 wards of the town. YSRC also hopes that internal bickering in TDP, between aspirant Satish Kumar Reddy and TDP state secretary Ramgopal Reddy will help the YSRC's chances.<br /><br />Pulivendulal is one of the seven segments under Kadapa Lok Sabha segment, which includes Kadapa, Kamalapuram, Maidukur, Badwel, Proddutur, and Jammalamadugu. The YSRC has fielded Jagan’s cousin YS Avinash for the Kadapa MP seat. Jagan has won the seat twice in 2009 and 2011. <br /><br />Unlike Pulivendula, the fight for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat is intense. Pitted against YS Avinash, an MBA graduate from UK, are Reddappagari Srinivas Reddy of TDP, an advocate and Congress candidate Ajay Kumar. Srinivas Reddy would able to give a tough fight to Avinash Reddy because many Kadapa Congress leaders have joined TDP after bifurcation, and they have the support of DL Ravindra Reddy, the estranged brother-in-law of YSR and former MLA Sivaramakrishna Rao. <br /><br />Satish Reddy is confident that the TDP manifesto and the sops assured for self-help groups will secure him victory. <br /><br />TDP has allocated Kadapa Assembly seat to BJP under seat sharing. BJP’s Allepu Reddy Harnatha Reddy is pitted against YSRC’s Amzad Basha, a former corporator. In Kamalapuram, TDP candidate Putta Narsimha Reddy is in field with Jagan’s maternal uncle Ravindranath Reddy. <br /><br />In all Kadapa, there are 14, 84,641 voters, including 7, 32,413 men and 7, 52,118 women.</p>
<p>YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy is fighting Assembly polls for the first time, contesting from Pulivendula seat in native Kadapa district, hoping to be the chief minister of the residual Andhra Pradesh. <br /></p>.<p>Pulivendula has been a stronghold for the YS Rajasekhar Reddy family who have represented the Assembly segment since 1978 when YSR won the election for Congress by defeating D Narayana Reddy of Janata Party. In 1999, YSR’s brother YS Vivekananda Reddy won the seat, in 1991 his paternal uncle YS Purushotham Reddy and in 2009 and 2011 by-elections, YS Vijayamma retained the seat. YSR won the seat six times, the last time he did was with 1,03,556 votes.<br /><br />“It was during the YSR rule that this barren land saw development. JNTU Pulivendula campus was established, several cotton spinning mills and cement bag manufacturing units and an outer ring road have come up,” says YS Bhaskar Reddy, who heads YSRC Pulivendula unit. <br /><br />Bhaskar Reddy, who runs the YSRC party affairs here, alleged that governments after YSR’s death neglected the Jalayagnam project under which the Gandikota project was taken up to mitigate drinking water. <br /><br />The fight for the seat is between Jaganmohan Reddy and the TDP candidate Satish Kumar Reddy. The Congress has fielded a block level leader Rajagopal Reddy. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Jai Samaikyaandhra Party (JSP) fielded Ramakrishna Reddy of Vempally, a last minute entry to the fray. Jaganmohan Reddy’s road show after he filed the nomination here on 17 April was a success, giving the local leaders confidence that he would register straight victories in 26 wards of the town. YSRC also hopes that internal bickering in TDP, between aspirant Satish Kumar Reddy and TDP state secretary Ramgopal Reddy will help the YSRC's chances.<br /><br />Pulivendulal is one of the seven segments under Kadapa Lok Sabha segment, which includes Kadapa, Kamalapuram, Maidukur, Badwel, Proddutur, and Jammalamadugu. The YSRC has fielded Jagan’s cousin YS Avinash for the Kadapa MP seat. Jagan has won the seat twice in 2009 and 2011. <br /><br />Unlike Pulivendula, the fight for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat is intense. Pitted against YS Avinash, an MBA graduate from UK, are Reddappagari Srinivas Reddy of TDP, an advocate and Congress candidate Ajay Kumar. Srinivas Reddy would able to give a tough fight to Avinash Reddy because many Kadapa Congress leaders have joined TDP after bifurcation, and they have the support of DL Ravindra Reddy, the estranged brother-in-law of YSR and former MLA Sivaramakrishna Rao. <br /><br />Satish Reddy is confident that the TDP manifesto and the sops assured for self-help groups will secure him victory. <br /><br />TDP has allocated Kadapa Assembly seat to BJP under seat sharing. BJP’s Allepu Reddy Harnatha Reddy is pitted against YSRC’s Amzad Basha, a former corporator. In Kamalapuram, TDP candidate Putta Narsimha Reddy is in field with Jagan’s maternal uncle Ravindranath Reddy. <br /><br />In all Kadapa, there are 14, 84,641 voters, including 7, 32,413 men and 7, 52,118 women.</p>