For the third time in the year, Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu went to his assembly constituency Kuppam in Chittoor district, in an apparent bid to retain his hold over the constituency.
This is perhaps the first time that Naidu has been visiting his constituency so frequently. Forget about the period when he was the chief minister of the state, he had not visited Kuppam regularly even when he was in the opposition.
The TDP chief, who has been representing the constituency for the last seven terms, is obviously feeling insecure ever since the party lost the local body elections – right from gram panchayat to the municipal elections – to the YSR Congress party in the last two years.
YSRC president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has been moving his pawns deftly to capture Kuppam at any cost in 2024 assembly elections and send Naidu packing from there.
He has made young leader K R J Bharat as the party in-charge of Kuppam, who has been nurturing the constituency and gained a lot of hold over the voters, particularly the new generation.
Jagan, too, has released special grants to develop Kuppam and declared it as a revenue division, which has been the long-cherished dream of the locals. Added to this, he has roped in his senior minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy to oversee the party expansion in Kuppam.
All these developments have obviously made Naidu panic and he, too, has decided to visit Kuppam as many times as possible and spend as many days as possible to regain the confidence of the people and retain the seat.
On Wednesday, the TDP chief interacted with the people and tried to give an impression that he was with them. He explained to them that whatever development that Kuppam has witnessed, it was done during the TDP regime.
He appealed to the people not to entertain rowdy elements in Kuppam and ensure that the constituency remains a peaceful and developed area. It remains to be seen whether he will succeed in retaining his hold on the constituency.