CPI(M) wins ZPTC seat in Andhra Pradesh’s Adivasi Agency areas

The results represent an important electoral success for the party in the Adivasi-inhabited Agency areas, where it has been active in struggles over land rights, employment, public services and the protection of tribal communities.

CPI(M) candidate Korra Trinadh won the Munchingiputtu seat with 10,161 votes, defeating YSRCP candidate Jallipalli Subhadra, a former chairperson of the Zilla Parishad of undivided Visakhapatnam district, who received 6,735 votes. The victory margin was 3,426 votes. The Jana Sena candidate, contesting as part of the ruling TDP-led alliance, received 386 votes.

The party also recorded significant results elsewhere. A. Bujji Babu secured 5,193 votes and second place in G.K. Veedhi, where the YSRCP candidate won with 10,470 votes. In Rajavommangi, CPI(M) candidate Lotha Rama Rao received 5,254 votes, finishing second behind the TDP-led alliance candidate, who polled 9,111. In Araku Valley, the CPI(M) candidate received 5,251 votes and finished third. Karam Sujatha secured 4,200 votes in V.R. Puram, while Medium Sridevi received 440 in Chintoor. The party's candidate Pothuraju polled 3,379 votes in Dumbriguda.

The CPI(M) has linked its performance to its longstanding work among Adivasi communities in the Agency areas. It has opposed proposed bauxite-mining and hydropower projects that it says threaten tribal land, livelihoods and the protections guaranteed in Fifth Schedule areas. The party has also campaigned for the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation, commonly known as the 1/70 Act, which restricts the transfer of land in scheduled areas to non-tribals.

Other issues raised by the party include the distribution of land titles to Adivasis cultivating podu lands, adequate compensation and rehabilitation for families displaced by the Polavaram project, and the demand for a special recruitment drive for teachers in tribal areas. It has also called for the restoration of the benefits previously provided under Government Order No. 3, which reserved teaching posts in Scheduled Areas for local tribal candidates. The Supreme Court struck down that order in 2020, and the state government was still examining possible alternatives in 2026.

The results should also be seen against the wider statewide outcome. The TDP-led alliance won 499 of the 582 ZPTC seats contested, while the YSRCP secured 76. CPI(M) won one ZPTC seat statewide and 15 MPTC seats. Its success in Munchingiputtu and the second-place finishes in G.K. Veedhi and Rajavommangi nevertheless provide evidence of a continuing electoral base in parts of the Agency region.

For the CPI(M), the outcome offers an opportunity to strengthen its representation in local institutions and continue its campaigns around Adivasi land rights, employment, education and protection from displacement.