Development is my election plank: Kodela E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Guntur

SITTING TDP MLA and As-sembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasad Rao has said develop-ment of Sattenapalli is his poll plank in the elections and ex-uded confidence of his win.

Speaking to newsmen at Sat-tenapalli on Monday, he said `1,250 crore was sanctioned for Sattenapalli during the last five years and several development projects were implemented in the constituency. He alleged that the YSRC was trying to dis-turb the peaceful atmosphere in the constituency by creating a rift among various castes for its political gains.

He appealed to people not to vote for YSRC as it amounts to voting for the BJP. Kodela said he would lay emphasis on in-dustrial development by invit-ing big industrialists to Sat-tenapalli if he was reelected.

02 TUESDAY09�04�2019TADEPALLIGUDEM

ASSEMBLY &LOK SABHA

ELECTIONS2019

The Indian democracy, which is the biggest in the world, is at risk now due to BJP’s greed for power – MM Pallam Raju, former Union minister

YSRC hell-bent on defeating me, says LokeshE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Guntur

IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Monday alleged that Telanga-na Chief Minister K Chan-drasekhar Rao sent `200 crore to Mangalagiri to defeat him in the Assembly elections.

Participating in the election campaign in the constituency, Lokesh said though YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Sharmila, Mohan Babu, Ali, R Krishnaiah, Krishna Madiga, Lakshmi Parvathi and others were campaigning against

him, he got the support of 2.6 lakh electorate in Mangalagiri Assembly constituency.

Contrary to his assurance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sanctioned a mere `1,500 crore for the construc-tion of capital city Amaravati. The funds sanctioned by the Centre were not sufficient to

develop even an underground drainage system in the capital. Despite the non-cooperative attitude of the Centre towards AP, Chief Minister N Chan-drababu Naidu is committed to construction of a world class capital. Highlighting the development schemes and wel-fare programmes launched by

the Chief Minister and the growth achieved by the State in the TDP regime, he prom-ised 12,000 houses for the poor in Mangalagiri. House site pattas would also be issued to eligible beneficiaries.

Sitting YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy did noth-ing for the development of Mangalagiri in the last five years as he spent all the time in courts, Lokesh said, promis-ing to ensure all-round devel-opment of the constituency if he was elected.

Tuni segment set to witness triangular fightThree dominant communities vie for the Assembly seat; contestants’ commitment to people’s welfare a key factorS   T R I M U R T H U L U  @Kakinada

THE electoral fight in Tuni Assem-bly constituency was between two dominant communities till the last elections. The political scenario changed in the segment in 2014 elec-tions with the victory of Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao (Dadisetti Raja) of YSR Congress, who hails from Kapu community, for the first time.

The constituency was formed in 1952. Raja Vatsavaya Venkata Krishnamuraj Bahadur of Congress got elected from the constituency for four consecutive times (1952 to 1967). After him, his daughter MN Vijay-alakshmi represented the constitu-ency twice (1972 to 1978).

Tuni voters, who wanted to see a change in their constituency, had

given a chance to another commu-nity, other than Raja’s family. Yana-mala Ramakrishnudu, who hails from Yadava community, was elected from the constituency for six con-secutive times from 1983 to 2004. In 2009 elections, Raja Ashok Babu, grandson of Raja Vatsavaya Venkata Krishnamuraj, won the seat.

In the present elections, Tuni is witnessing a triangular contest among sitting YSRC MLA Dadisetti Raja, Yanamala Krishnudu, brother of Finance Minister Ramakrish-nudu, and Raja Ashok Babu of Jana Sena. Kapus, Koppula Velamas and Yadavas are the three dominant communities in the constituency. Caste factor played a key role in the last elections and Dadisetti Raja, who hails from Kapu community, achieved victory. Both Raja and Yan-

amala families are leaving no stone unturned to regain their hold on Tuni. The sitting MLA is also striv-ing to get re-elected from the Assem-bly constituency.

Thandava river flows through Tuni. Mango, betel, sugarcane and jute are the main crops. The town is plagued with several problems. There is a need to construct a flyover to prevent traffic congestion at the railway level crossing gate in the town during peak hours.

There is also haphazard growth due to lack of proper town planning in the segment. The drainage system in the constituency is also bad. Basic infrastructure in many localities in the town needs to be developed. The poll outcome is likely to be depend-ent on the commitment of contest-ants to solve people’s problems.

`30.5 lakh seized in WGE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Eluru

THE police seized ̀ 30.5 lakh cash at two places in West Godavari district on Mon-day. SP M Ravi Prakash said `26 lakh cash was seized from a car in Bhimavaram. In another incident, the flying squad, led by CI B Krishna Kumar, conducted vehicle checks at Sitarama-puram in Narasapuram mandal. A sum of `4.5 lakh was seized from a two-wheeler rider, the SP said.

The unaccounted cash seized from a car in Bhimavaram on Monday | EXPRESS

TOTAL ELECTORATE

2,12,9001,05,879

Male voters

1,07,003Female voters

Yanamala Krishnudu - TDP

Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao - YSRC

Raja Ashok Babu - Jana Sena

Chilukoti Panduranga Rao - Congress

Velaga Eswar Rao - BJP

10 more candidates, including independents are also in the election fray

CANDIDATES

18 Transgenders

220Polling stations

39Critical booths

Foil KCR’s moves to stall AP’s growth: SivajiE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Rajamahendravaram

“IF we give an opportunity to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to enter Andhra Pradesh, there will be no future for the State, said film actor Sivaji.

Addressing media at the Press Club here on Monday, along with MP M Murali Mo-han, he alleged that KCR who raised an objection on Pola-varam irrigation project, was obstructing provision of Spe-

cial Category Status to AP. In future, he would interrupt the construction of capital city Amaravati. Hence, the people of State should be aware of ‘evil’ designs of KCR, he said.

Sivaji appealed to the elec-torate to give their mandate to the parties which are really committed to people’s welfare and development of the State.

He criticised YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for not mentioning anything per-taining to capital Amaravati in the party’s poll manifesto.

1,000 NCC, NSS students roped in for poll dutyE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Vijayawada

AS many as 1,000 NSS volun-teers and NCC cadets are go-ing to be appointed as Special Force Police Officers for poll duty on the day of election (April 11) and they will be paid `1,100 for two days.

At an orientation pro-gramme conducted for volun-teers here on Monday, City Po-l i c e C o m m i s s i o n e r C h Dwaraka Tirumala Rao ex-plained the duties of Special Force Police Officers on the polling day and asked them to

work in coordination with the police and election officials. Retired policemen and army men would also be deployed for election duty. “All the vol-unteers and retired officers will be posted at the polling booths in the limits of Vi-jayawada Police Commission-erate to ensure the peaceful conduct of polling,” he said.

Following a circular sent to all the government colleges in the city seeking volunteers for election duty, more than 1,000 students, including girls, ex-pressed their willingness and enrolled their names.

`40 lakh cash seized from flat in Guntur Guntur: The police seized `40 lakh cash in the city on Monday. Guntur West DSP J Kulasekhar said the police conducted a raid on a flat in an apartment following a tip-off and seized `40 lakh cash from the owner of a cool drink shop at Arundelpet. The seized cash was handed over to the Income Tax department. A case was registered against him. The DSP said they intensified vehicle checks in the city to prevent illegal transport of cash.

Telangana CM KCR has sent `200 crore to Mangalagiri to defeat me in the Assembly elections. Though the YSRC is leaving no stone unturned to defeat me, I have got people’s support to achieve win

Nara Lokesh, IT Minister

Commissioner of Police Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao at an orientation programme for NSS volunteers and NCC cadets in Vijayawada on Monday | EXPRESS

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