Andhra Pradesh: Srikakulam records 30% polling by 12 pm

VISAKHAPATNAM: Srikakulam, the northern-district of Andhra Pradesh, recorded 30% by 12 pm on Thursday, according to official sources. Voting was largely peaceful.


Sitting MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, 32, is defending his seat, with Duvvada Srinivas, 47, of the YSR Congress Party being his principal rival. Naidu cast his vote in Srikakulam along with his wife and mother.

The Srikakulam parliamentary constituency comprises of seven assembly segments—Itchapuram, Palasa, Tekkali, Pathapatnam, Srikakulam, Amudalavalasa and Narsannapeta.

Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party won the seat in 2014 with a margin of 127,572 votes. Naidu is the son of Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu, a TDP stalwart, who died in a road accident in November 2012.

The Srikakulam constituency is significant because it was represented by Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao of the Indian National Congress. Rajagopala Rao is considered the patron saint of the Kalinga caste, a prominent caste in Srikakulam, because he got the caste the Backward Class category, enabling the group to get access to the most prestigious places of learning, including JIPMER in Puducherry and in other medical and engineering colleges in the country.

Ram Mohan Naidu belongs to Velama caste, another prominent group in Srikakulam, while Duvvada Srinivas belongs to the Kalinga group. However, according to K Amarnath, a political analyst, Ram Mohan Naidu appears to have the edge in the parliamentary seat because a significant segment of the Kalinga community have voted for his father, Yerran, and for him in 2014.