PURANDESWARI FACING TOUGH FIGHT

A tough battle is in offing for former Union minister and daughter of TDP founder N T Rama Rao, D Purandeswari, in this constituency as she is fighting in an unfamiliar territory of Rayalaseema and is facing Congress veteran A Sai Pratap and the youthful P Mithun Reddy of YSR Congress. Purandeswari belongs to coastal Andhra and the BJP's decision to field her from Rajampet in Rayalaseema came as a surprise. She represented Visakhapatnam seat in Coastal Andhra in the outgoing Lok Sabha and had quit Congress over division of the state and joined BJP ahead of the elections. The decision is attributed to the pre-poll alliance between BJP and TDP, in which the saffron party was allotted four of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra. Purandeswari is banking on the legacy of NTR who had once declared himself 'adopted son' of Rayalaseema, and the popularity of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Modi, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and actor-turned- politician Pavan Kalyan who is a star campaigner for NDA in Andhra Pradesh addressed a public meeting at Madanapalle in the constituency last week. Reminding the people of her father's association with Rayalaseema, Purandeswari promised she would work to address the scarcity of water and the developmental needs in the ackward region. 
YSR Congress is believed to have a strong base in the Rayalaseema region. On the other hand, Sai Pratap, the Congress candidate, is a six-time MP from Rajampet. Sai Pratap was expelled from Congress for moving no-confidence motion against the UPA government for its decision to create Telangana state. He sided with former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who floated the Jai Samaikyandra Party. Pratap, however, returned to Congress later, and is now seeking re-election. He was a close associate of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, but chose not to join the YSR Congress. With Congress on the backfoot in Seemandhra in the aftermath of bifurcation, Sai Pratap too faces a tough challenge. YSRCP's Mithun Reddy, son of former minister P Ramachandra Reddy, thinks that recent tour of Modi in the constituency has consolidated the sizable minority voters behind his party. Purandeswari could be a tough opponent in coastal Andhra, but not in Rayalaseema, he claims. The Rajampet parliamentary constituency comprises the assembly segments of Rajampet, Kodur, Rayachoti, Thamballapalle, Pileru, Madanapalle and Punganur.