After days of hectic campaigning in Andhra Pradesh, the stage is set for polling in all the 175 assembly seats in the state on Monday.
The state is witnessing a triangular contest involving ruling YSRC, the Congress-led INDIA bloc and the NDA, comprising the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP).
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is hoping to consolidate the anti-incumbency votes across the state while Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is banking on his government’s welfare schemes.
The elections to 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union Territories, including all the 25 seats in Andhra, for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections is also scheduled for tomorrow (May 13).
The voting will being at 7 am and will go on till 6 pm, except for a few places where voting will conclude an hour earlier.
Parties In Fray In Andhra Pradesh
The ruling YSRCP is contesting in all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. As part of a seat-sharing deal among NDA partners, the TDP was allocated 144 Assembly seats, while the BJP will contest from 10 Assembly seats. The Janasena will fight in 21 assembly seats.
Meanwhile, YSRCP is fighting in 25 Lok Sabha seats, TDP in 17, BJP in 6 and Janasena 2 for the Lok Sabha elections.
The YSRCP won 151 seats, TDP 23 and Janasena 1 in the last Assembly polls. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the YSRCP had won 22 seats while TDP was reduced to just 3.
The YSR Congress campaign centred around the welfare measures that it implemented during the past five years while the NDA highlighted the failures of the state government and the doles it would provide, if voted to power in the state and the job creation it would do.
Key Candidates
Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer MK Meena has said that 2,705 candidates are in the fray for the assembly polls, while 503 candidates are contesting for the Lok Sabha elections.
YSRCP president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is fighting from Pulivendla, while TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu is contesting from Kuppam and Janasena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan from Pithapuram.
Moreover, Andhra Pradesh Congress president and Jagan's sister YS Sharmila from Kadapa and BJP state chief Purandeswari from Rajamahendravaram are in the poll fray for Lok Sabha.
Total Voters
The total number of voters in Andhra Pradesh stands at 4.14 crore, including 2.02 crore male, 2.1 crore female, 3,421 third gender voters and 68,185 service electors.
For the smooth conduct of the polls, the Election Commission has deployed 1.06 lakh security personnel, who included 3,500 Karnataka police, 4,500 Tamil Nadu police, 1,614 ex-servicemen and 246 retired police personnel, among others in the state.