Araku Constituency: Electoral Fight Among Women Candidates As YSRCP Aims For Hat-Trick

The Araku Lok Sabha constituency is one of the largest constituencies in the country over 14.5 lakh voters. It comprise seven assembly segments including Araku Valley, Paderu, Rampachodavaram, Parvathipuram, Saluru, Kurupam, and Palakonda. A Scheduled Tribes (ST) reservation seat, Araku was established after the delimitation process in 2008. The constituency is considered as the stronghold of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

In 2009 election, Congress has won the seat through Kishore Chandra Suryanarayana Deo Vyricherla, securing 33.55% of the vote share. But, he failed to retain the constituency in the next election. Goddeti Mahadevi, an incumbent MP from the constituency, and Kothappalli Geetha has won the seat in 2019 and 2014 elections, respectively.

The YSR Congress Party has fielded Chetti Tanuja Rani, a new face in electoral politics, for party’s hat-trick victory in Araku. The constituency includes most of the backward areas. As per the 2019 Assembly elections, YSRCP has won total seven assembly segments, that are reserved for SC and ST category. The winning margin of 2,24,089 votes in 2019 elections, and major stronghold in all seven assembly seats will gain confidence in YSRCP camps for the victory. The party believes that the candidature of Tanuja Rani, an epidemiologist in ASR district, who has been working and interacting with the people for long, may help in securing a good poll result.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led-NDA alliance has fielded the candidate Kothappalli Geetha, a former Deputy Collector. In 2014 general election, she contested from Araku constituency on a YSRCP ticket and won the seat with a margin of 91,398 votes, securing 4,13,191 votes. Later, she distanced herself from YSRCP. After the denial of ticket, she quit from TDP and formed a new party titled Jana Jagruthi Party in 2018 challenging the caste politics. She, later joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and received ticket for Araku Constituency. The Lok Sabha elections is important since it raises question on the political survival of Kothappalli Geetha.

(This story is part of a Timeline. internship project.)