Incumbent YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MLA and State Agriculture Minister, Kakani Govardhan Reddy, is confident of a hat-trick victory over his opponent, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) polit bureau member and former Cabinet Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy for the Sarvepalli Assembly constituency, a key segment in the Nellore district.
Mr. Kakani was sure of winning with a majority of over 50,000 votes. “Somireddy has done nothing for the development of the constituency. As a former agriculture minister, he was involved in corruption in the name of Neeru-Chettu and Rythu-Ratham schemes. He did not grant minimum support price (MSP) to farmers and colluded with brokers and rice millers to get commissions,” he claimed, during his election campaign at Allipuram village on Wednesday. During his tenure, however, farmers were getting 30% more than the MSP, amounting to ₹22,000-24,000, he added.
He also alleged that Mr. Somireddy was trying to tempt YSRCP workers to join TDP, but the unity in the YSRCP cadre remains intact. Meanwhile, nearly 60 families from TDP joined the YSRCP in the presence of Mr. Kakani in Pynampuram village of Muthukur mandal on Wednesday.
The YSRCP leader also campaigned at Nandivaya, Ayyagaripalem, Chatagotla and Marupur villages of Podalakur mandal of the constituency, which saw large-scale participation of villagers, particularly farmers and women. Villagers in turn say that they are ‘indebted’ to Mr. Kakani who has provided better water facilities by installing pipelines for drinking water under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
