Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Former friends pitted against each other in Kankipadu

By P. Sujatha Varma

VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 18. The Kankipadu Assembly constituency, forming part of the Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat, is heading for a keen tussle between one-time friends Gadde Ramamohan and Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru), who are pitted against each other by the Telugu Desam Party and the Congress respectively.

The TDP leadership shifted Mr. Ramamohan, a member in the dissolved Lok Sabha, to the crucial Kankipadu Assembly segment paving way for the nomination of Tollywood producer, Chalasani Aswani Dutt, for the Lok Sabha seat. The initial reluctance on the part of Mr. Ramamohan, however, subsided and he promised to work for the victory of Mr. Dutt.

In the Kankipadu segment, political equations appear to be changing rapidly with contestants of both parties canvassing vigorously across the length and breadth of the constituency. Accompanied by their spouses, both Mr. Nehru and Mr. Ramamohan have been extensively touring villages to drum up support at the grassroot level.

Unlike the Congress contestant in the fray, who had the advantage of kicking off campaigning much in advance since his name was cleared by the party leadership at an early stage, Mr. Ramamohan, whose campaign started much later, has almost made up for the loss of time.

Besides overcoming the herculean task of pacifying party rebels, Mr. Ramamohan simultaneously undertook hectic canvassing and has been drawing impressive crowds to his meetings.

There is, however, a striking feature about the campaigning style of the two leaders. The spirit of camaraderie seen between the TDP leaders, Mr. Ramamohan and Mr. Dutt, is missing among their poll rivals, Mr. Nehru and the Congress Lok Sabha candidate, Lagadapati Rajagopal. While Mr. Ramamohan and Mr. Dutt enjoy a very close rapport and are seen canvassing hand-in-hand, the same is not the case with Mr. Nehru and Mr. Rajagopal.

For Mr. Nehru, it is a piquant situation wherein he is expected to work in tandem with Mr. Rajagopal, the son-in-law of the former Union Minister, P. Upendra, with whom his relations are not so cordial. Mr. Dutt misses no opportunity to heap praises on Mr. Ramamohan for the kind of support and the guidance extended to him by the former while Mr. Nehru has confined his role to asking the electorate to "vote for Mr. Rajagopal''.

The longstanding rift between Mr. Nehru and Mr. Upendra is the apparent cause for the reluctance of Congress leaders to bury the hatchet and work in unison.

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