Kakarla Suresh broke the Mekapati rule in Udayagiri

Nellore: Udayagiri TDP MLA Kakarla Suresh, an NGO organiser turned politician, has created history by ending the decades-old rule of Mekapatis in the Udayagiri constituency. Despite Udayagiri being a drought-prone region, it holds significant political power. Apart from people like Danekula Narasimham, Poliboyina Chenchuramaiah and former Vice-President of India Mupavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, other prominent names like Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, Bollineni Venkata Rama Rao and Madala Janani Ram have been elected since its formation in 1951. The Mekapati family has dominated the constituency for decades, with Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy representing it in 1985 and his brother Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy in 2004, 2009, 2012 and 2019. Mekapati Rajagopal Reddy, YSRCP candidate for 2024, also belonged to this family. Kakarla Suresh, 52, son of K Venkatasubba Naidu of Peddireddy Palle village in Varikuntapadu mandal, is a software consultant. After completing his primary and secondary education in Buchireddy Palem mandal in Nellore district, Suresh earned a BTech degree from Siddardha Engineering College in Vijayawada. He then worked as a software engineer in the US, where his wife also worked in the same field. Driven by the ambition to make money, he quit his job, started a business and quickly amassed wealth before returning to India. After seeing the dire conditions in the Udayagiri constituency, Suresh founded the Kakarla Charitable Trust (KCT). The trust runs various programmes such as Pellikanuka, NTR Arogya Sanjeevani Ratham (NTR ASR) and Anna Canteen, which provide crucial financial support to the poor, especially women during marriages. Through NTR ASR, about 29,000 people in the constituency have received free cataract operations. Impressed by Suresh’s service activities, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu decided to field him from Udayagiri constituency a year before the elections, despite pressure from other leaders like former MLAs Khambam Vijayarami Reddy and Bollineni Venkataramarao, who were also staking claim for the ticket. “Migration from Udayagiri is taking place on a large scale due to poverty. Thousands of people have been suffering from fluoride-related diseases for decades. Despite many influential leaders representing the constituency, people remain poor. As an NGO organiser, my services were limited, which forced me to become an MLA to develop this constituency in all aspects,” Kakarla Suresh said