Even as former chief minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu is crying on the streets for “dismantling his dream city of Amaravati” Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had gifted Kuppam to the TDP chief.
The government had upgraded the Kuppam town to a Grade III municipality, which is now represented by Chandrababu Naidu in the State Assembly.
Kuppam had been the citadel of Chandrababu Naidu since 1989, when he moved here from Chandragiri Assembly constituency.
Naidu had won his first Assembly election in 1978 on Congress ticket from Chadragiri Assembly constituency and lost the seat in the subsequent election in 1983.
He did not contest the 1985 elections as he was a new entrant in the TDP. Then in 1989 general election, Chandrababu Naidu shifted his seat to Kuppam and since then, he had won 7 consecutive elections.
The Kuppam town is in Chittoor district, located just 115 km from Bengaluru, 240 km from Chennai and close to 190 km from Tirupati, the temple town.
Kuppam had been the mandal headquarters town when Taluqs were dissolved and mandals were introduced by the N T Rama Rao-led TDP government in 1984.
The town has a population of over 22,000 and is financed by the granite industry, which is also exported and very popular. It has one medical college and one engineering college besides the Dravidian University.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy government had upgraded this mandal headquarters town into a Municipality, thus giving the people of their due representation, which did not happen in the 30 years of Chandrababu Naidu as its legislator.
