Purandeswari faces uphill task

By Sai Kumar

Is Daggubati Purandeswari, aka ‘Chinnamma’, fighting a losing battle in Visakhapatnam? While Purandeswari is depending on history to bail her out in the prestigious Vizag LS constituency where non-locals have won comfortably in the past, she is up against a slew of factors which could lead to her downfall.

The fact that she was forced to enter the fray, much against her wish, from a constituency that boasts of nearly 80 per cent BC voters lends credence to the growing theory that state Congress satraps “fixed” her as they are unable to digest her growing clout in Delhi and AICC circles, more so with Madam Sonia Gandhi.

“Isn’t it very obvious that she is being made a scapegoat when she had a clear mandate in Narasaraopet, which was given to CM’s trusted lieutenant Balasoury? It’s a diabolic game played out by YSR to cut her to size,” a senior Congress leader said.

Yadavs, Thoorpu Kapus, Koppula Velamas, Gavaras and fishermen form a sizable BC electorate in Vizag whereas Kammas have a mere 8 per cent presence. “She will be swimming against the massive BC voter tide and it’s very unlikely she will come up trumps,” an analyst said. Also, Purandeswari, who is filing her nomination on March 30, has just 14 days at her disposal to win over the electorate. “Forget about campaigning, she has no clue about the LS boundaries and assembly segments. Her only saving grace could be Gajuwaka, which has over 40,000 Kamma voters,” a source said.

Purandeswari also has her task cut out since she’s up against TDP’s veteran leader MVVS Murthy, who is in the fray, and rebels in the form of two Congress sitting MLAs — Rangaraju and Karri Sitaram — who have openly declared that they would not campaign for a ‘non-local’.

Indications are rife that Vignan institute chairman L Rathaiah, a Kamma, who is likely to be PRP’s nominee, could eat into her votes. There are even reports that Chiranjeevi may field actor Krishnam Raju which could make it even tougher for her.

Sources said Purandeswari banked on Prakasam and Guntur districts which have sizable Kamma population. With Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Magunta Srinivasula Reddy being firm on their Guntur and Ongole LS seats, she had only Narasaraopet, which was given to Balasoury on a platter. “Though Balasoury is a Kapu, his money power could swing voters in his favour in the Kamma-dominant Narasaraopet,” a source said.

“She can only take solace from the fact that many MPs who had won from Vizag were outsiders, yet the electorate had voted for them,” an analyst said. Among the MPs who had won from Vizag like Murthy (who won in 1999), Uma Gajapathiraju, T Subbarami Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy (all Congress) are non-locals. While Murthy is a native of Rajahmundry, both TSR and NJR hail from Nellore.