Hindupur constituency is the strong fortress of the Telugu Desam Party since its inception. TDP won all ten elections that happened in this constituency after 1983.
NT Ramarao himself won three times from here. Harikrishna contested and won in 1996. In the three elections after that Nandamuri family did not contest. Balakrishna made his political debut in 2014 winning here.
Given that Balakrishna is busy with films, the opposition thought it is easy to override him. But Balakrishna stunned everyone by winning the second time in 2019 even with an improved majority in severe anti-incumbency against TDP.
The election had established that Balakrishna is no easy leader to defeat.
YSR Congress has leadership issues here. Mohammed Iqbal who lost against Balakrishna was made an MLC so as to give him some sort of strength to take on Balakrishna and be ready at least for the 2024 elections.
But it looks like Iqbal’s strength may not be sufficient and the party is scouting for the right candidate.
Naveen Nischal who lost three times in this constituency was refused a ticket in 2019. He is keen on getting the ticket once again. Iqbal is also very interested to try again.
An NRI Madhumathi who left a software job in Canada is also interested to get a YSRCP ticket. Ch Ramakrishna Reddy, YSRCP’s Senior leader was killed and her sister is this Madhumathi.
A female educated candidate is a good bet, Madhumathi’s group is claiming.
It is difficult to defeat Balakrishna in the constituency even if all the leaders work together. But now everyone is going their own way in the anticipation of a ticket.
We will have to see if this lack of unity helps Balakrishna score a hat trick.
