At the beginning of the election campaign, the TDP had no big hopes in the Reddy-dominated Nellore district. Surveys said at that time that TDP may win only one or two seats out of the total 10 in the district. Over the past three weeks, things changed dramatically. The TDP is now in a strong position in four segments which are Nellore Town, Gudur, Kavali and Atmakur. The TDP has improved its prospects and it is giving a tough fight in Nellore Rural, Sarvepalli, Venkatagiri and Udayagiri. Now, analysts say that there are also chances for the TDP to win 5 to 6 seats.
The immediate reason for this latest scenario is that the backward classes and neutral voters are favouring TDP. The party has fielded BC leader Beeda Mastan Rao in Nellore Lok Sabha segment. This has polarised BC votes for the TDP. Moreover, the Muslim vote bank is supporting the TDP candidates. This is the reason why TDP candidate Abdul Aziz’s chances improved considerably in Nellore Rural segment despite YCP candidate Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy’s strong supporters’ base here. In the changed scenario, TDP chances have also got a boost in Nellore MP seat. The voters are now comparing the characters of TDP Mastan Rao and YCP’s Adala Prabhakar Reddy. Adala is being branded as an unprincipled betrayer as he cheated TDP for joining YCP at the last minute.
