After a hiatus of five years, Kuppam gets back its ‘VVIP’ tag

After a five-year hiatus, N. Chandrababu Naidu returns to Kuppam Assembly constituency, aiming to regain 'CM constituency' status.

After a hiatus of five years, the tail-end Kuppam Assembly constituency at the tri-State junction in Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to get back its lost tag — ‘CM constituency’.

N. Chandrababu Naidu, the eight-time MLA from the backward region who has returned to power now, is scheduled to visit the constituency on a two-day thanksgiving visit on June 25 and 26.

The constituency had enjoyed ‘VVIP status’ from 1995 till 2004 during Mr. Naidu’s first and second tenures in the undivided State. After losing power to the Congress party in 2004, Mr. Naidu was in the Opposition for a decade, but came to power again in 2014 to be at the helm of the residual State.

When the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) stormed to power in 2019, during which election Mr. Naidu’s winning majority touched 30,722, the lowest since 1994, his dominance was thought to be “over once and for all.”

The TDP was literally “washed out” from the constituency, with the YSRCP supplanting its rival in the MPTC, panchayat, and municipal elections.

Down but not out, Mr. Naidu, during the last five years, took up issues pertinent to the constituency, one of which was “looting of granite wealth” in Kuppam. He had approached the National Green Tribunal, complaining about the YSRCP leaders’ role in the looting of natural wealth.

The complaint became his prime slogan in Chittoor district during the election campaigns. For the first time in 35 years, Mr. Naidu’s visit in 2023 was marred by violence in Ramakuppam mandal of the constituency. Political clashes between the two parties, coupled with personal rivalries among them, dominated the Kuppam region later.