Vijayawada: A triangular fight is in store at Pedana constituency in Krishna district. While senior TDP leader and sitting MLA Kagita Venkata Rao opted out from contesting the election to make way for his son Venkata Krishna Prasad, the YSRC has fielded former Pedana MLA Jogi Ramesh, who won there in 2009 on a Congress ticket.He joined the YSRC before the 2014 election and contested from Mylavaram, but lost to Devineni Umamaheswara Rao of TDP. Though Jana Sena candidate Ankem Lakshmi Srinivas is a relative newcomer, he has emerged as a strong contender due to his work at the grass roots level, thereby making the Pedana contest a triangular fight.Kagita Venkat Rao had won the Pedana seat four times since 1985 and is considered the face of TDP in the area. However, anti-incumbency could play a major role in deciding the fate of his son, who is a new entrant into politics.More than developmental issues, caste factor will play a key role in the final outcome. All parties have fielded candidates from the Gowda community, the largest community in terms of vote share in Pedana. While Gowda votes are likely to get split between the three parties, Kapus, the second largest community, will decide the fate of the candidates. Kagita Venkat Rao enjoyed the support of Kapus in 2014 but this time they are likely to rally behind Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena.Jana Sena candidate Ankem Srinivas is the son of the brother of Ankem Prabhakar, who was the first TDP candidate to win from Pedana in 1983. Srinivas enjoys the support of a sizeable section of Gowda community and is likely to get some support from the Kapu community too.On the other hand, YSRC candidate Jogi Ramesh is depending party chief Jaganmohan Reddy’s charisma to sail through. He is lagging behind in the triangular fight as he’s considered a non-local and is also facing allegations of neglecting the constituency during his tenure as MLA from 2009 to 2014.

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