West Godavari District Profile: LS And Assembly Constituencies, Candidates List

Eluru: Situated in coastal Andhra Pradesh region, West Godavari district or Paschima Godavari Jilla is one of the 13 districts in the Andhra Pradesh. The administrative headquarters of the district is situated at Eluru.

According to the 2011 census, the population stands at 39,36,966. It is bounded by Krishna District on the west, East Godavari District on the east, the Bay of Bengal on the south and the state of Telangana on the north.

The district has five revenue divisions, namely Eluru, Jangareddigudem, Kovvur, Kukunuru and Narasapuram.

There are two parliamentary and 15 assembly constituencies in the district. The parliamentary constituencies are Eluru and Narsapuram.

In the West Godavari district, the main contest is between the TDP and the YSRCP, although the Jana Sena has a marginal chance of winning because of the presence of the Kapu community.

Kapus are one of the more politically significant communities in AP constituting a reported 27% of the total population in the state. A considerable population of Kapus are based in the two Godavari districts and are known to be able to easily swing elections towards a candidate in their favour.

In fact, one of the toughest fights that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu faced was from Kapu leader and ex-Andhra minister Mudragada Padmanabham, who hails from East Godavari’s Kirlampudi. The BJP and the Congress can be considered as non-players in the region.

Eluru Lok Sabha Seat:

The general Eluru Lok Sabha constituency is spread across West Godavari and Krishna districts. It had seen close contests between the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress in the past. It is one of the 15 out of the state’s 25 Lok Sabha seats that the TDP won in 2014.

In 2014, TDP’s Maganti Venkateswara Rao, a chemistry professor, romped home after defeating Congress' Thota Chandra Shekhar by over one lakh votes.

This time the battle is between the TDP and the YSRCP and the newly launched Jana Sena has made inroads too.

Candidates for Eluru in 2019:

• TDP: Re-nominated Maganti Venkateswara Rao
• YRSCP: Kotagiri Sridharas
• Jana Sena Party: Economist Pentapati Pulla Rao

Narsapuram Lok Sabha Seat:

The Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency is one of the two Lok Sabha seats the BJP won in Andhra Pradesh 2014 in alliance with the TDP.

The district has been a Congress stronghold which won the seat five times in a row from 1962 to 1980 before the TDP claimed it four successive times.

In 2014, BJP's Gokaraju Gangaraju won the seat defeating YSRCP’s Vanka Ravindranath by 85,351 votes.

Candidates for Narsapuram in 2019:

• TDP: V Sivarama Raju
• YRSCP: Raghuarm Krishnam Raju
• Jana Sena Party: Pawan Kalyan’s brother Naga Babu
• BJP: Former Minister Pydikondala Manikyala Rao

The Assembly constituencies and the Candidates:

Achanta: It is a battle against the TDP's Pitani Satyanarayana and YSRCP's Cherukuwada Sri Ranganatha Raju. Javvadi Venkata Vijaya is Jana Sena's candidate for the election. Nekkanti Venkata Satyanarayana is the Congress candidate and Yedida Kodanda Chakrapani is BJP's candidate.

Bhimavaram - TDP's Pulaparthi Ramanjaneyulu is pitted against YSRCP's Srinivas Grandhi.

Chintalapudi (SC) - TDP's Karra Raja Rao to take on YSRCP's Vr Elizah from the constituency. Mekala Eeswarayya is the Jana Sena candidate here.

Denduluru - TDP's Chintamaneni Prabhakar is pitted against YSRCP's Kotaru Abbayya Chowdary, while Ghantasala Venkatalakshmi is the Jana Sena candidate.

Eluru - Badeti Kota Ramarao of the TDP will fight the battle against Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas of the YSRCP and Reddy Appala Naidu of the Jana Sena.

Gopalapuram - From the constituency, Muppidi Venkateshwara Rao of the TDP is pitted against YSRCP's Talari Venkatrao. The Jana Sena has fielded no candidates.

Kovvur (SC) - The TDP candidate from the constituency is Vangalapudi Anitha, who takes on YSRCP's Vanita Taneti. Arigala Aruna Kumari is the Congress candidate.

Nidadavole - YSRCP's GS Naidu takes on Burugupalli Sesha Rao is the TDP from the constituency. Atikala Ramyasri is the Jana Sena candidate from the seat.

Narsapuram - YSRCP's Mudunuri Prasad Raju will have a face-off with TDP's Bhandaru Madhav Naidu and Jana Sena's Mudunuri Prasada Raju

Palakollu - TDP candidate Nimmala Ramanaidu faces a battle with YSRCP's Chavatapalli Satyanarayana Murthy (Dr. Babji) and Gunnam Nagababu of the Jana Sena.

Polavaram: The ST reserved constituency is a battle against the TDP's Boragam Srinivas rao vs the YSRCP's Tellam Balaraju and Chirri Balaraju from the Jana Sena

Tadepalligudem - The main battle is between YSRCP's Kottu Satyanarayana and TDP's Eli Venkata Sudhasudhana Rao (NANI). Bolishetty Srinivas is the Jana Sena candidate.

Tanuku - TDP's Arimilli Radhakrishna will have to fight a tough battle with YSRCP's Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao. Pasupuleti Ramarao is the Jana Sena candidate.

Undi - YSRCP's Pvl Narasimha Raju will take on TDP's Vetukuri Venkata Siva Ramaraj from the constituency.

Unguturu - Puppala Srinivasa Rao of the YRSCP is pitted against Gani Veeranjaneyulu of the TDP and Nowdu Venkataramana of the Jana Sena.

Lok Sabha election 2019 in all 25 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh will be held on April 11. The state will also see simultaneous assembly election 2019. The counting of votes of both the elections will be done on May 23.

Also Read: Prakasam District: Lok Sabha And Assembly Constituencies, Candidate Profiles