Chittoor District Profile: LS And Assembly Constituencies

Chittoor: Chittoor district is a district in Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located at Chittoor. It has a population of 4,170,468 according to 2011 census of India and derives its name from its headquarters Chittoor.

The district is bounded by Kadapa district to the north, Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu state to the south, and Kolar district of Karnataka to the west.

The important rivers in the district are Ponnai and Swarnamukhi rivers which originate in eastern ghats. Water-crisis is a serious concern in the district and every summer, the district has to face water woes.

There are two Parliamentary Constituencies under which there are 14 Assembly segments. A reserved seat for Scheduled Castes candidates, the TDP turned Chittoor Lok Sabha constituency into its fortress with consecutive victories in the last six elections since 1996.

In 2014, Naramalli Sivaprasad of the TDP won the election and has been re-nominated for the third term. Sivaprasad defeated YSRCP’s G Samanyakiran by 44,138 votes while Congress candidate B Rajagopal came third. The Lok Sabha MP earned notoriety for his protests in different guises and was criticised for trivialising the demand for Special Category Status to the state.

The YSRCP is set to dislodge TDP from its fortress. Sivaprasad is facing widespread resentment with complaints that he left work pending during his second term. Also, he has been criticized for trivializing the issue of Andhra Pradesh’s Special Category Status in the Lok Sabha for showing up in Parliament in different avatars to protest.

Let's have a look at the two Parliamentary Seats:

1. Chittoor Lok Sabha Seat:

Chittoor is the home district of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu.

In 2014, TDP's sitting MP Naramalli Sivaprasad had defeated YSR Congress Party's G Samanyakiran with a margin of more than 50,000 votes.

Chittoor Lok Sabha Candidates:

YSR Congress Party: N Reddeppa

TDP: Naramalli Siva Prasad

Congress: Dr. Cheemala Rangappa

BJP: Jayaram Duggani

2. Tirupati Lok Sabha Seat:

Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh is best known for the Venkateswara Temple, a landmark Vaishnavite temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala.

It is a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes candidates.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, YSRCP’s Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli won the seat defeating BJP’s Karumanchi Jayaram by 37,425 votes. It was one of the eight Lok Sabha seats the YSRCP won in Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Tirupati Lok Sabha Candidates:

YSR Congress Party: Balli Durgaprasad Rao

TDP: Panabaka Lakshmi

Congress: Chinta Mohan

BJP: Bommi Srihari Rao

There are 14 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly MLA constituencies in Chittoor district.

• Srikalahasti: It's a battle between TDP's Bojjala Sudheer Reddy vs YSRCP's Biyyapu Madhusudhan Reddy and the Jana Sena's Vinutha Nagaram.
• Satyavedu (SC): In this constituency, it is a contest between TDP's J.D Rajashekar, YSRCP's K Adimulam.
• Nagari: The key fight is going on between sitting YSRCP MLA and film actress RK Roja and veteran leader G Muddukrishnama Naidu's son G Bhanu Prakash. The YSRCP leader has a grassroots connect with the electorate and is seen as a likely winner.
• Pileru: The battle is between TDP's Nallari Kishore Kumar Reddy and YSRCP's Chinthala Ramachandra Reddy and B Dinesh of the Jana Sena.
• Chandragiri: In this segment, it is a fight between YSRCP's Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy vs TDP's Pulivarthi Venkata Mani Prasad and Shetty Surendra of the Jana Sena. Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy is a popular local leader and is set to retain his seat going by all accounts.
• Kuppam: The main fight is between TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandramouli of the YSRCP. Dr Venkataramana is fighting from the Jana Sena.
• Chittoor: The battle here is between TDP's AS Manohar and YSRCP's Arani Srinivasulu. S Dayaram is fighting from the Jana Sena.
• Puthalapattu (SC): TDP's Therlam Poornam will take on MS Babu of the YSRCP.
• G.D Nellore (SC): The Battle is between YSRCP's K Narayana Swamy and TDP's Harikrishna.
• Palamaner: It is N Amarnadh Reddy vs YSRCP's N Venkataiah Gowda of the YSRCP. The Chillagattu Srikanth will contest from Jana Sena.
• Madanapalle: It is going to to be a faceoff between TDP's Dammalapati Ramesh vs YSRC's Nawaz Basha.
• Thamballapalle: The battle is between TDP's Shankar Yadav and YSRCP's Dwarkanath Reddy. Viswam Prabhar Reddy is fighting from the Jana Sena.
• Punganur: The battle is between N Anusha Reddy of the TDP and YSRCP's P Ramachandra Reddy, a popular MLA with a massive grassroots reach and Boda Ramachandra Yadav of the Jana Sena, who is in for a token fight.
• Tirupati: In this assembly segment, the fight is between Bhumana Karunakar of the YSRCP vs M Sugunamma of the TDP. Chadalawada Krishnamurthy of the Jana Sena is in the fray but will not make much of a difference to the outcome.

Chittoor is likely to swing the YSRCP way adding to the overall count in its account.

Also Read: Vizianagaram District Profile : LS And Assembly Constituencies