Sibling rivalry to the fore at YS family bastion Pulivendula
The Hindu
For the last 46 years, the Yeduguru Sandinti or YS clan has held sway over the Pulivendula Assembly constituency.
For the last 46 years, the Yeduguru Sandinti or YS clan has held sway over the Pulivendula Assembly constituency, and its grip has not loosened yet; the constituency continues to be considered synonymous with its first family.
The opposing Telegu Desam Party, however, is hoping that this year’s Assembly election, to be held on May 13, will be different. Taking the fight right to the YS family’s doorstep, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has coined the slogan, ‘Why not Pulivendula?’, which appears to have caught the attention of the electorate.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is seeking re-election from Pulivendula for the third time. However, he is not just pitched against the TDP’s Mareddy Ravindranath Reddy (also known as ‘B.Tech’ Ravi), but is also embroiled in a family war: his own sister Y.S. Sharmila, who is contesting the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat as the Congress candidate, is taking every opportunity to hit her brother on all fronts and increase the anti-incumbency factor against him by effectively marshalling the Congress’ MLA candidates.
The warring siblings’ father, the late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, universally known as YSR, won the Pulivendula Assembly seat three times, in 1978, 1983, and 1985. His brother Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy won the seat in 1989 and 1994. YSR’s paternal uncle Y.S. Purushothama Reddy also held the seat briefly after a 1991 by-election.
YSR once again won the seat in 1999, 2004, and 2009, keeping his grip on the constituency till his untimely death in a helicopter crash just six months after being sworn in for his second consecutive term as the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2009.
In the byelections held in 2010 and 2011, YSR’s wife Y.S. Vijayamma sailed through comfortably, first on a Congress ticket and then as the candidate of the newly-floated YSR Congress Party. Continuing the family’s winning streak, their son Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the current CM and the founder of YSRCP, romped home in 2014 and 2019. He is contesting once again in their home turf in 2024, aiming at a ‘hat-trick’.
For a long time, YSR had been a household name in Pulivendula, and a shoo-in for elections, with people becoming accustomed to knocking on his door for any kind of support. Whenever YSR had to stay in Hyderabad or New Delhi on official assignments, his brother ‘Viveka’ stepped up, becoming YSR’s ‘‘voice and ears’.