A tough battle is in offing for former Union minister and daughter of TDP founder N T Rama Rao, D Purandeswari, in this constituency as she is fighting in an unfamiliar territory of Rayalaseema and is facing Congress veteran A Sai Pratap and the youthful P Mithun Reddy of YSR Congress.
Purandeswari belongs to coastal Andhra and the BJP's decision to field her from Rajampet in Rayalaseema came as a surprise.
She represented Visakhapatnam seat in Coastal Andhra in the outgoing Lok Sabha and had quit Congress over division of the state and joined BJP ahead of the elections.
The decision is attributed to the pre-poll alliance between BJP and TDP, in which the saffron party was allotted four of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra.
Purandeswari is banking on the legacy of NTR who had once declared himself 'adopted son' of Rayalaseema, and the popularity of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Modi, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and actor-turned- politician Pavan Kalyan who is a star campaigner for NDA in Andhra Pradesh addressed a public meeting at Madanapalle in the constituency last week.
Reminding the people of her father's association with Rayalaseema, Purandeswari promised she would work to address the scarcity of water and the developmental needs in the backward region.
