While it was long expected that Devineni Umamaheshwara Rao would be the next TDP leader to be arrested after Kollu Ravindra and Dhulipalla Narendra, it appears his arrest is fast proving counter-productive for the YSRCP. There is a groundswell of sympathy for Devineni as he was booked for murder while he was sitting in his car.

Devineni Uma was arrested on charges of attempt to murder after a case was booked against him in G Konduru police station. But as the news spread of his arrest, sympathy for him is reportedly growing in Mylavaram assembly constituency. His political rival and YSRCP MLA Vasantha Krishnaprasad is now in fix. In fact, Vasantha Krishna Prasad had said a year ago that he would put Devineni Uma behind the bars. These words are now coming back to haunt him.

Vasantha Krishna Prasad is now being blamed for the arrest. Interestingly, both Devineni and Vasantha hail from the same social community and there a lot of sympathy for Devineni in general and in the community in particular. Anger is also said to be building against Vasantha Krishna Prasad as he is staying away from the constituency unlike Devineni Uma, who was always accessible. He has not taken up developmental works as planned,according to the locals. Due to this, there is already resentment against Vasantha Krishna Prasad. He reportedly stays away from the assembly constituency and this too has contributed to his unpopularity..

Vasantha comes from the illustrious political family of Vasantha Nageswara Rao., who was the home minister during the TDP rule and represented Nandigama several times. His son Krishna Prasad had joined the YSRCP and has won from Mylavaram defeating Devineni Uma. Devineni too is from a well-known family. His elder brother Ramana was a minister He had passed away in a train accident.