Can Mega Projects In Rayalseema Help Chandrababu Naidu Undercut Jagan’s Hold On The Region?

Under the scorching Rayalaseema sun, where cracked earth and sparse fields stretch across a parched landscape, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu recently took the stage at the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Mahanadu (annual conclave) in Kadapa.

Addressing a cheering crowd of party members, he made a slew of announcements and pledged to transform the area—comprising the undivided districts of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa, and Kurnool—into ‘Ratnala Seema,’ a land of gems brimming with prosperity.

To be fair, not everything was new. The steel plant in Kadapa, for which an investment of Rs 4,500 crore was announced, has been facing protracted delays and the Banakacherla river linking project— touted as a game-changer to resolve the perennial water woes of the region by channeling Godavari water from the Polavaram project, was conceptualised long ago.

What stood out in Naidu's announcements though was the push to make the region a hub for horticulture and defence manufacturing—with Lepakshi-Madakasira in Anantapur marked for aircraft production and Kurnool-Oravakal for drones and robotics. This even sparked speculation that Naidu was trying to woo HAL away from nearby Bangalore.

Just Development Or Development And Politics?

Naturally, these announcements dominated headlines for the next few days and it was said that Rayalaseema was finally going to get its equivalent of ‘acche din’ under this government. But a closer look would show that it was not just the region’s development that was at play here but also the growth of the TDP as a party. 

Kadapa, the venue chosen for the conclave, is the proverbial 'fiefdom' of former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's family. They have dominated the district’s politics for decades, starting with Jagan’s grandfather, Raja Reddy, who became a mining baron in the 1970s. His son, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR), became the chief minister in 2004 and served till his death in a helicopter crash in 2009.

Since the past few decades, their constituency of Pulivendula has always been held by someone from the family— YSR himself, his wife Vijayamma, or his brother Vivekananda Reddy, to Jagan at present. Similar is the case with the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. It is currently held by Y S Avinash Reddy, a cousin of Jagan. The TDP has never won the seat after 1984.

While TDP has always been present in the region, with Naidu himself hailing from Kuppam in Chittoor district, and NTR’s son Balakrishna a three-time MLA from Hindupur in Anantapur district, it has never been able to completely dominate the area. Part of the reason is that most of Naidu’s support base (the Kamma community) are located in central and coastal Andhra while it is Jagan’s community, the Reddys, who have a good presence in Rayalaseema.

Even before the bifurcation of Andhra, the Reddy community was seen as supporting the Congress. While the TDP too has leaders from the community, it is still seen as a Kamma-dominant party with less scope for Reddys to rise up the ranks.

That has had a bearing on the electoral results. The last time the TDP secured more seats than the opposition party in Rayalaseema was way back in the 1990s. After that, the Congress or the YSRCP had the upper hand until last year, when Naidu’s party, with the help of its alliance partners, made a comeback, winning 49 out of 52 seats in the region.

This was a complete reversal from what had happened in 2019, when the TDP was brought down to just three from a respectable 22 in 2014. While this can be put down to the vagaries of the state’s bipolar politics, what this is also means is that even a huge sweep cannot be taken for granted and a lot of effort needs to be put in by a party to maintain its dominance in Rayalseema.

For that, Naidu has to get the dominant community of the region, i.e. the Reddys to join him in greater numbers. The two ways through which he can do that are development and Hindutva. With the latter theme associated with his coalition partners, Jana Sena Party (JSP) led by actor Pawan Kalyan and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), development remains the primary choice.

While that has indeed been Naidu’s mantra, it has historically been concentrated more in cities and thus had a lesser impact in Rayalaseema where poverty and frequent drought has led people to look more for welfare, freebies and projects that could resolve their water woes.

What that means is that the development cannot be piecemeal because that would not be enough to win over a community and those already beholden to Jagan. The development push has to be so overarching that it cannot be ignored. This is what Naidu seems to be aiming at through these mega-announcements.

Further, coastal Andhra, where the TDP is stronger, has its limitations when it comes to the ability to set up industries. The area is fertile and is thus heavily cultivated, making it difficult to acquire land. That explains why Naidu chose to go for the land pooling route for the new capital in Amaravati instead of outright acquisition.

Jobs, water, wealth, and prosperity could trigger a political realignment in the region.

While the announcements made from the stage during the Mahanadu indeed have the potential to do that, skepticism lingers because a lot that has been promised to the people of the area has never seen the light of day. 

The year 2025 however offers the TDP an opportunity like never before. The opposition is arguably at its weakest ever. Along with Jagan retreating from public view, there has been an exodus of leaders from the YSRCP. Four Rajya Sabha MPs, including Vijay Sai Reddy, known to be close to the former chief minister, a number of MLCs and former MLAs have left the party in the last one year. The YSRCP does not seem to be taking any steps to stem the tide.

The fortress has thus been breached. It is now up to Naidu to set the bar so high that the TDP becomes the party of first choice in the region. If Naidu follows through his promises, Rayalaseema could finally see meaningful development after years of neglect. But if he does not, ‘Ratnala Seema’ would remain a shimmering mirage in the desert.