Telugu Desam Party supremo Chandrababu Naidu always claims himself as a high-tech visionary who put Hyderabad on the world map. However, when it comes to his own constituency, which he has been representing for the past 35 years, Naidu has done little. He has merely treated the people of Kuppam as his vote bank for his political gain without truly investing efforts in their development. Unlike Naidu, Jagan, who has served as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for the past 5 years, has developed his own constituency, Pulivendula. It’s natural for chief ministers to prioritise the development of their own constituencies; even in Telangana, former CM KCR significantly developed his constituency of Gajwel. The current chief minister, Revanth Reddy, has also allocated a substantial budget for his constituency, Kodangal. However, despite serving as chief minister for 14 years, Naidu failed to bring meaningful development to Kuppam.
Naidu failed Kuppam
Kuppam is geographically located between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. With just a fare of Rs. 25, Kuppam’s residents travel to Bengaluru, which is 120 km away. Most of the public in Kuppam are migrant workers who commute to Bengaluru by train for daily wages, while some travel to neighbouring towns in Tamil Nadu for construction and other work. Chandrababu Naidu completely failed to provide employment to the locals. To this day, anyone visiting Kuppam railway station during the early morning hours can witness the rush of locals commuting to Bengaluru on a daily basis.
Naidu promised to bring many companies to Kuppam, such as Britannia Industries, Tiruvur Garments, Aditya Birla Fashion and Textiles, Gokul Das Garments, Vaishnavi Mega Food Park, Kuppam Plastics, Jockey Underwear and Garments, etc. However, Naidu did not bring a single company to Kuppam; his promises merely remained as promises.
On the other hand, the current Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has focused on ensuring employment for locals by establishing new companies in the constituency. In line with this, the YSRCP government is taking measures to establish a granite survey stone-cutting and polishing unit on 4 acres at Pallarlapally, near Kothapalli in the Kuppam constituency. According to government estimates, it can provide employment for thousands of locals.
https://twitter.com/Hemanth_Barghav/status/1788031983484080325
Jagan did a lot for Kuppam
After the YSRCP came into power, Kuppam town was upgraded from a Nagar Panchayat to a Grade 3 municipality. During the TDP government from 2014 to 2019, funds were not allocated to constituencies represented by leaders of opposition parties. However, CM YS Jagan has been treating all regions and constituencies equally in terms of development. Despite Naidu being his political rival, Jagan sanctioned Rs. 1 crore from the Chief Minister Development Fund to Kuppam. The YSRCP government successfully addressed drinking water issues in Gudupally, Kuppam, and Ramakuppam mandals and issued land pattas to over 15,000 beneficiaries. During Naidu’s tenure, pensions were provided to only 31 thousand people, whereas the YSRCP government has extended pensions to over 45,000 people. Furthermore, CM YS Jagan fulfilled the long-standing dream of Kuppam’s residents by releasing Krishna water into the Kuppam branch canal from the Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project. This marks a significant boost for the agricultural sector in the Kuppam region.
https://twitter.com/sainath_sane/status/1787770971195420713
This time, it’s not easy for Naidu
This time, YSRCP is aiming for ‘Why not 175 seats’, and they are keenly focused on the Kuppam assembly segment. One can certainly say Naidu fears YSRCP’s steps, as it’s evident that he built his own house decades later in Kuppam. In the assembly segment, Naidu’s majority is gradually declining: in 1999, Naidu got a majority of 65,887 votes; in 2004, 59,588; in 2009, 46,066; in 2014, 47,121; and in 2019, 30,722 votes.
YSRCP MLC Bharath is contesting against sitting MLA Naidu in Kuppam. YS Jagan has already promised the Kuppam public that if they vote for Bharath and make him win, he will be given a ministry. Bharath, the son of the late retired IAS officer Chandramouli, contested against Naidu in 2014 and 2019. After Moulis’s demise, Jagan declared Bharath as the candidate against Naidu. Bharath belongs to the dominant Vannekula Kshatirya community, which has almost 40 percent of the vote share in the Kuppam segment. This time, Bharath is very confident of winning this segment and giving a tough fight to Naidu. The political picture in the constituency and public opinions suggest that it’s not going to be a cakewalk for Naidu this time in Kuppam.