With an eye on the 2024 elections, the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has given Ministerial berths to four people from North Andhra — Dharmana Prasada Rao, P. Rajanna Dora, Botcha Satyanarayana and Seediri Appala Raju — as it looks to make further inroads into the region where its main rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has enjoyed a strong political base in the past.
Hailing from the Polinati Velama community, Mr. Prasada Rao is a political heavyweight who has been a five-time MLA, winning in 1989, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2019, and has served in the Cabinets of Chief Ministers Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, N. Janardhan Reddy and Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Popular across the region, Mr. Prasada Rao is expected to help the party significantly improve its vote share in the 2024 elections.
Mr. Appala Raju, a first-time MLA from Palasa who has been retained in the Cabinet, is expected to strengthen Mr. Prasada Rao’s hands with his influence among the fishing community which has a sizable presence in Srikakulam district with its 180-km-long coastline.
As expected, Cheepurupalli MLA Botcha Satyanarayana retained his Ministerial berth. Shooting to prominence after being elected to Parliament in 1999 from Bobbili, he won from Cheepurupalli Assembly constituency in the 2004, 2009 and 2019 elections. He lost in 2014 due to the strong anti-Congress wave that swept the residual State of Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation, but still managed to poll 32,000 votes — the highest garnered by any Congress candidate in the State. He then quit the Congress to join the YSRCP, and ensured a clean sweep for the party in the district in the 2019 elections. In appreciation for his work, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy accommodated him in his first Cabinet by giving him the portfolios of Transport and Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department.
“Mr. Satyanarayana was able to break the TDP’s back in its bastion of Vizianagaram district, which is why he was made a Minister,; said Kesali Appa Rao, a Botcha family loyalist.
Peedika Rajanna Dora, a three-time MLA from Saluru (ST) constituency, is expected to stregthen the party’s base in the newly-formed district of Parvatipuram. Mr. Rajanna Dora’s popularity is expected to boost the party’s vote share in the four constituencies of Saluru, Parvatipuram, Kurupam and Palakonda, say observers.
