Seemandhra goes to polls: Battleground for TDP, YSR Congress

After Telangana went to the polls, it’s now the turn of the Seemandhra region to cast its ballot in an election that is expected to see the Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party attempt to establish their hold on the 25 seats in the newly formed state.

Telugu Desam Party’s chief Chandrababu Naidu’s political future hinges on the party’s performance while for YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy, its his chance to stamp to establish his credentials on the national stage.

According to the IBN-Lokniti poll , the pre-poll survey favours the Telugu Desam Party which has managed to boost its chances ahead of the elections. An alliance with the BJP won’t hurt its chances either. Here’s what the survey found:

Vishakapatnam: The port city of Vishakapatnam could just be the capital of the Seemandhra region in due course and the candidate to watch in this constituency is YSR Congress’s YS Vijayamma, mother of party president Jaganmohan Reddy.

Vijayamma’s biggest competitor is expected to be the BJP’s Andhra Pradesh unit president Kambhampati Hari Babu. Sabbam Hari, sitting MP from the neighbouring Anakapalle Lok Sabha constituency and one-time associate of Jagan, is contesting on behalf of Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Jai Samaikyandhra party but isn’t perceived as a major contender. Congress candidate B Satyanarayana too isn’t favoured.

Vijayamma’s victory in the seat could also influence three other constituencies - namely Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam - which makes this contest all the more crucial for her.

Rajampet: Daughter of former Chief Minister and cinematic legend NTR, D Purandeshwari, switched sides from the Congress to the BJP just before the elections. Purandeshwari, who at one time said she would have nothing to do with relative Chandrababu Naidu finds herself an ally to the TDP chief in this election.

She’s reportedly leveraging the NTR legacy in a bid to win a seat that she is unfamiliar with given she represented Vishakapatnam in the last election. P Mithun Reddy of the YSR Congress is believed to have a strong base in the Rayalaseema region. On the other hand, Sai Pratap, the Congress candidate, is a six-time MP from Rajampet.

Kadapa: YSR Congress Party chief Jaganmohan Reddy held the seat after the last election but won’t be contesting this time round given he’s got his eye on being the chief minister of the new state of Seemandhra.

Instead his cousin YS Avinash Reddy will be hoping to hold the fort for the YSR Congress in the constituency. R Srinivasa Reddy is the Telugu Desam Party candidate for this seat and is hoping that the alliance with the BJP along with some anti-incumbency will tide him through.

Kakinada: MM Pallam Raju, the minister for Human Resources Development, will be facing stiff competition from the TDP’s Thota Narasimham and YSRCP’s Chalamalasetty Sunil. While Raju is putting on a brave face, some reports indicate that the fight may only be between the YSR Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party.

Vizianagaram: YSRCP’s Ravu Venkata Swetha Chalapathi Kumar Krishna Ranga Rao aka Baby Nayana will be hoping to wrest the seat from sitting Congress MP Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi, the wife of state Congress unit chief, Botsa Satyanarayna.

Also in the race is TDP’s Ashok Gajapati Raju, who is MLA and a member of the Vizianagaram royal family. The seat is expected to finally end up a contest between the TDP and YSR Congress.

Bapatla: Minister Panabaka Lakshmi from the Congress won the seat comfortably during the last election but will face tough competition this time round.

Araku: V Kishore Chandra Deo is largely expected to hold on to his seat despite all the resentment against the Congress in the Seemandhra region. The five-time MP is expected to benefit from his support base in the tribal belt and see off challenges from Gummidi Sandhyarani of the TDP and Kothapalli Geetha of the YSR Congress Party.

Amalapuram: The seat is expected to witness a close contest among the candidates of TDP, YSRCP, Congress and the Jai Samaikyandhra Party of former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. Sitting MP G V Harsha Kumar, who was expelled by Congress for moving a no-confidence motion against the UPA government against the decision to form separate Telangana, is contesting on Jai Samaikyandhra Party (JSP) ticket this time round and is expected to retain the seat.

Eluru: In a seat formerly held by the Congress the battle will be between Congress’s Musunuri Nageswara Rao, Thota Chandra Sekhar of the YSR Congress and the TDP’s Maganti Venkateswara Rao, who came second in the 2009 election.

Machilipatnam: Incumbent MP Konakalla Narayana Rao of the TDP will be hoping to hold on to his seat this time round as well. Kolusu Partha Sarathy of the YSR Congress party and Sistla Ramesh of the Congress will be hoping to prevent him from doing so though.

Tirupati: Chinta Mohan of the Congress presently holds the seat but will face stiff competition to hold on to the seat representing the temple town this time round. Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli, a former bureaucrat, is contesting on a YSR Congress ticket and former police official K Jairam is contesting on a BJP ticket.

Guntur: MD of the Rs 3,500-crore Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, Galla Jayadev switched from being a Congress loyalist to a TDP candidate in time for the eleciton. Jayadev, whose mother was even a Congress minister, has switched sides but will face stiff competition from V Balashowrey of the YSR Congress who reportedly enjoys the support of the backward classes and minorities.

Anantapur: Former Congress MP Anantha Venkatarami Reddy is contesting on a YSR Congress ticket in this election and will face off against P Anil Chowdary of the Congress and J.C. Divakar Reddi of the TDP.