Hindupur seat: It’s pack up time for Balakrishna?

Tollywood actor and sitting MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna, who represented the bloodshed and factionalism in Rayalaseema region, is gearing up to contest the assembly elections from Hindupur assembly constituency for the third time. Balakrishna, who is the son of NTR, won from Hindupur segment in 2014 and 2019 and is aiming for a hat-trick in the ensuing elections. 

Balakrishna glossed over the positive and beautiful things of Rayalaseema in his movies like ‘Samarasimha Reddy’ and ‘Veera Simha Reddy’. He’s only degraded the people and rich culture of the region through his films. The TDP MLA who did care to visit his home constituency even during the Covid-19 pandemic, is back in the spotlight after the announcement of the poll schedule by the election commission. 

Hindupur constituency has been a stronghold of TDP for over 30 years, however, it is still under-developed. One of the reasons for its under-development is the elected MLA Balakrishna rarely visits his own constituency. He’s a busy actor who is focussed more on his movies than the public issues.  

Being a busy actor, Balakrishna assigned his constituency’s responsibilities to his personal assistants (PAs). The locals alleged that these PAs did not execute any developmental works but instead indulged in corrupt activities. Due to years of neglect, the voters of Hindupur segment have defeated the opposition party in municipal, MPTC and ZPTC elections in the recent past. This should serve as a warning bell to the TDP leader as it is fielding Balakrishna from the same constituency. 

Balakrishna was first elected to the Andhra Pradesh assembly in 2014. He’s completed 10 years as an elected public representative but has a poor track record of performance in his constituency. During the last 10 years in public office, he’s worked in 12 movies. He’s also busy with TV and OTT shows. It is anybody’s guess how much time he’s given to the constituents of Hindupur segment. 

The Hindupur assembly segment was earlier represented by NT Rama Rao and his elder son N Harikrishna and now Balakrishna. The assembly constituency has over 2 lakh voters who will exercise their franchise to elect the next MLA on May 13 this year. 

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