Keen contest on cards in Vizianagaram LS as Bellana faces Kalisetti

Visakhapatnam: The upset win scored by YSRC’s Bellana Chandrasekhar over his formidable TD rival Ashok Gajapathiraju in the last Lok Sabha election in 2019 has changed the political landscape of Vizianagaram. This victory has not only established Bellana as a prominent figure but also significantly altered the dynamics of the region's politics.

This time, Bellana will be facing Kalisetti Appalanaidu, the TD nominee for the Vizianagaram Lok Sabha seat. Though leaders like Raghuram Krishnam Raju and GVL Narasimha Rao had lobbied for the seat, Appalanaidu finally got the nod from the party leaders.

It is crucial to note that both Bellana and Kalisetti belong to the same community and hold a strong influence over the adjacent constituencies of Chipurupalli and Etcherla. Their close ties and family connections in these areas, coupled with the support of other MLAs, will be crucial factors in this election.

TD faced a few challenges earlier from Nellimarla, Vizianagaram, and Etcherla constituencies where the party chief had given tickets to OC candidates. However to address this issue, the TD leadership has strategically sent Kala Venkata Rao to Cheepurupalli and asked Kalisetti to contest from Vizianagaram MP seat.

This move was an attempt by TD chief Chandrababu Naidu to mitigate the issue of caste to some extent, underscoring the importance of this in election dynamics. This may work in favour of Kalisetti in Etcherla but he’s relatively new in Vizianagaram district.

Moreover, N Eswara Rao, who is contesting as a BJP candidate from Etcherla, is a good friend of Kalisetti. Kala Venkata Rao and Kalisetti are known as good friends in political circles. They all worked together as a team for the TD in the last few years.

Another factor that could influence the election is the disunity within the YSRC ranks in Nellimarla. The YSRC candidate, Badukonda Appalanaidu, shares a close relationship with Chinna Seenu, which is disliked by Botsa Satyanarayana. Lokam Naga Madhavi, who is contesting on Jana Sena ticket, could potentially exploit this disunity.

TD has a footprint in Chipurupalli’s Garividi and Gurla areas while Botsa has a stronghold in the Cheepurupalli and Merakamudidam mandals. In view of this, Kala Venkata Rao is trying to attract families close to YSRC party from Cheepurupalli mandal and Merakamudidam, and has been able achieve some success in this regard with a few leaders joining the TD in recent times.

In this background, it’s interesting to see how Botsa and Bellana manage to retain their hold in the forthcoming elections.