In Visakhapatnam North, Ganta Srinivasa Rao has slight edge over Vishnu Kumar Raju

Visakhapatnam: While the intense rivalry between the Telugu Desam and YSR Congress continue to hold the attention of the state, the mood is different in Visakhapatnam North, where the TD and BJP are battling it out for the top prize.

The sitting MLA, P. Vishnu Kumar Raju of the BJP, is feeling the heat from minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who he has accused of grabbing land illegally.

Vishnu Kumar Raju won the 2014 election with the support of the TD, as the two parties had struck a pre-poll alliance. Despite the alliance in place, Vishnu Kumar Raju had continued to level allegations against Srinivasa Rao, forcing the government to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations.

However, the SIT gave a clean chit to the minister.

Vishnu Kumar Raju believes his strength is his regular interactions with the local leaders and people from the constituency.

Meanwhile, Srinivasa Rao says he has done some good in the Assembly constituency over the last few months, but did not brag about it.

The region has a decent vote share of Raju, Kapu and Velama communities.

However, the YSRC has also fielded a candidate from the Raju community, K.K. Raju. The resultant division of votes could favour Srinivasa Rao.

However, Srinivasa Rao’s record of not having contested from the same constituency twice is coming in handy for the YSRC and BJP.

They two parties have been going to town, claiming that if Srinivasa Rao does win, he won’t do any work for the constituency.

They cite his constituency hopping as evidence and claim that Visakhapatnam North will witness the same situation.