Thanuja Rani Is Leading In Araku Lok Sabha Constituency, The Hot Seat Of Andhra Pradesh

Interestingly, in Araku Lok Sabha constituency, Thanuja Rani is leading the seat with the margin of 20,569 votes, and BJP’s Kothapalli Geetha is tariling behind with 68,356 votes. There were four major contestants in Araku Lok Sabha constituency. YSRCP’s (Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party) Chetti Tanuja Rani, BJP’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) Kothapalli Geetha, CPI (M)’s (Communist Party of India – Marxist) Pachipenta Appala Narsa, and BAP’s (Bharath Adivasi Party) Mottadam Raja Babu, were the key players in the arena, making it the hot seat of Andhra Pradesh.

Araku is considered for its significant influence in the Indian politics. Kothapalli Geetha and Chetti Thanuja were the biggies in the arena this year. Notably, the Araku Lok Sabha constituency is the only tribal segment in Andhra Pradesh.

The constituency was formed in 2009, after the 2008 delimitation process. The constituency was formed as a reserved seat for the Scheduled Tribes community. During its first Lok Sabha election, Indian National Congress’ Kishore Chandra Deo won the seat with a majority of 192,444 votes.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Kothapalli Geetha won the seat on YSRCP seat. She won the seat over the margin of 91,398 votes. She won the seat by contesting against TDP candidate Gummidi Sandhyarani, and Kishore Chandra Deo, who was a Congress candidate back then.

Deo joined TDP in 2019, and contested from the constituency against YSRCP’s Goddeti Madhavi, who won the seat with a majority of 224, 089 votes.

The candidacy of Geetha and Tanuja Rani has made the election battle more interesting for Araku. Both the woman candidates were highly educated, with Geetha being former deputy collector, and Tanuja Rani being the medical officer in ASR District Medical and Health Office, before she joined politics.

Kothapalli Geetha’s presence, a prominent and controversial figure in Andhra Pradesh politics, has increased Araku constituency’s prominence in this Lok Sabha election. Being convicted in bank fraud case and detained for faking her caste during the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Geetha was a noted candidate.