Vijayawada Constituency: Brothers’ Game of Thrones In The Prestigious Andhra Constituency
Vijayawada, the cultural, political, commercial and educational capital of Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a tight fight between two candidates, politically and personally. Notably, the major candidates in the fray, YSR Congress Party’s Kesineni Srinivas alias Nani is the younger brother Telugu Desam Party’s Kesineni Sivnath alias Chinni, who both have worked together in TDP for past decades.
The incumbent MP Kesineni Srinivas has got the YSRC ticket, after he has declined the ticket from Chandrababu Naidu. He has won the seat from TDP ticket twice, in 2019 and 2014. Earlier this year, after the ticket has declined from Chandrababu Naidu and TDP, he has joined YSRCP after the invitation from Jaganmohan Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and the chief of the party. While Kesineni Srinivas secured his win with the margin of 74,862 votes in 2014, it was decreased to 8,726 votes in 2019.
Vijayawada was also the stronghold of Congress, which has won the seat for 11 consecutive times since 1957. In 2009 election, Lagadapati Raja Gopal was won the seat by securing 4,29,394 votes. Congress candidate Avinash Devineni has garnered 39, 751 votes in 2014, is the latest best performance of Congress in the seat. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP), the parties which was not in alliance with TDP in 2019, were the other major competitors on the fray then. BJP and JSP had secured 1.45% and 6.39% of vote share in 2019 respectively.
This year, the Vijayawada constituency has gained spotlight with the contest of brothers who are in the competition. Notably, apart from a healthy competition, both the brothers have alleged corruption and conspiracies at each other. In an interview to India Today, Kesineni Srinivas criticised his brother that the parties should give the ticket for right persons, not to the cheaters, not for criminals and not for the land grabbers. He also said that he had presented a thousand-page document which includes his brother’s atrocities such as criminal activities, land grabbing and cheating. He remarked that his brother and opposite candidate is not an ethically moral person for the society.
TDP-led NDA fielded candidate Kesineni Sivanath, who is also an entrepreneur, and was seen campaigning alongside PM Narendra Modi in a vibrant road show in the Vijayawada city last week. Along with the incumbency factor in the state and the potentiality of tripartite NDA alliance between BJP, JSP and TDP, Sivanath has attacked his brother and opposite candidate Nani. In an interview with India Today, Chinni remarked that he got the ticket from Chandrababu Naidu because of his complete loyalty to the party. He alleged that Mr Nani has created such a mess in the family and he is a worst person in nature and does not respect anybody. He also said that he doesn’t want to call him as brother and there is no family relationship with them.
(This article is part of a Timeline Internship Programme)
