The 2019 assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh are paving way for many firsts. In what could be a history of sorts, the Telugu Desam Party Chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has successfully brought the Vangaveeti and Devineni families together into the party, harmoniously. The differences between the Vangaveeti and Devineni families go way back to the 1980s to the era of group clashes in Vijayawada.
Devineni Nehru who believed in a communist ideology and worked for Chalasani Venkata Ratnam along Vangaveeti Ranga, later separated from the Vangaveeti family. Nehru and his brothers, Gandhi and Murali. Devineni Nehru also known as Devineni Rajasekhar served as a minister in NTR’s Cabinet. He was also elected successfully as an MLA for five times from Kankipadu constituency. He enjoyed a considerable clout and power in Krishna district while Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga dominated the scene in Vijayawada city.
The group clashes between Nehru and Ranga dominated the political scene in Vijayawada. However, these clashes turned extremely violent between the Devineni faction and Vangaveeti faction, leading to Nehru’s brother Gandhi’s death. Following this, Nehru’s brother Murali too was murdered. Following this, the violence got ugly, leading to the murder of Vangaveeti. During this time, the coastal district of Krishna saw clashes between the two groups where Ranga’s supporters blamed the Nehru group for his death. However, the court acquitted Nehru of the charges.
But, the group clashes continued to evolve into political clashes as Ranga belonged to the Congress and Nehru was with the TDP. There has been rivalry between the two families ever since. Moreover, these differences also created a split between the Kapu and the Kamma communities in Krishna district as Ranga belonged to the Kapu community and Nehru belong to the Kamma community.
After the 2014 election assembly elections, Nehru, who was earlier with the Congress following differences with Chandrababu, later joined the Telugu Desam Party in 2016 along with his son Avinash after a hiatus. Vangaveeti Radha, son of Vangaveeti Ranga, was earlier with the Congress and then moved to Praja Rajyam Party. Later, he became a member of the YSR Congress Party. Before the 2014 assembly elections, there were minor clashes between the two groups which later subsided.
However, following a bitter spat with YSR Congress President Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy, Vangaveeti Radha stormed out of the party and walked into the Telugu Desam Party on the assurance of a ticket. While Devineni Avinash got a ticket from Gudivada, the TDP Chief has convinced Vangaveeti Radha to be the star campaigner for TDP in the upcoming elections. This sets an example of how both Devineni and Vangaveeti families stood united on a single platform created by the TDP, ending their decades-old rivalry and ushering in a fresh phase in Andhra Pradesh’s politics.
A similar exercise was undertaken by the TDP Chief when he brought two arch rivals, Rama Subba Reddy and Adinarayana Reddy, into one room and facilitated a platform to sort out their decades-old differences in Jammalamadugu of Kadapa district. These examples will go down as one of TDP’s greatest achievements in bringing an end to a long history of group clashes in Andhra Pradesh and creating a new era of politics.
