Polavaram is an ST-reserved constituency that is a stronghold of TDP since its inception. It won four out of the six elections that happened between 1983 and 1999. But the scene changed after that.
Congress and YSR Congress gained the upper hand here. In all the five elections that happened from 2004 to till date, TDP was able to win only once in the 2014 elections. TDP cadre says the party has a good chance in 2019 as well but lost due to group politics in the party.
Cut to 2023, nothing has changed. There is a gap between former MLA Modiyam Srinivasa Rao and Party’s current convener Borgaram Srinivasulu and as a result, there are group politics in five of the seven Mandals in the constituency.
The other day, Chandrababu Naidu called for a meeting of the two leaders and the local leaders. He warned them to give a ticket to a third person if they do not reconcile and work together.
Even though the idea is to finalize an in-charge for the constituency, Chandrababu deferred the decision after seeing the group politics becoming worse.
If the issue is not properly addressed, the 2019 scenario will repeat for TDP.
