Andhra Pradesh’s ruling party YSR Congress and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are locked in a neck-to-neck battle for simultaneous elections to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha scheduled on May 13.
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) is facing anti-incumbency and a stiff challenge from the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance in 175 Assembly segments and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP, which had wrested power from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2019 with a landslide majority, is banking on welfare schemes while the alliance led by TDP ran the campaign with the slogan to save Andhra Pradesh from ‘destructive’ rule of YSRCP.
Also Read: Telangana goes to polls for all 17 seats, 525 candidates in fray
This is the third election after the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh and it will be interesting to see whether this will set the trend of voting out incumbent.
The tripartite alliance appears to have bolstered the prospects of the opposition. After biting the dust in previous elections, the TDP, Jana Sena Party (JSP) led by actor-politician Pawan Kalyan and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have come together again to take on YSRCP.
For TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, who turned 74 last month, this electoral battle is crucial for the future of his party. Eying another term as the Chief Minister, the senior politician did not hesitate to join hands with his friend-turned-foe BJP.
It was Pawan Kalyan who took the initiative to forge an alliance with the TDP late last year when Naidu was arrested and jailed in a corruption case. The actor later convinced the BJP to join hands with them to avoid a split of anti-incumbency votes. Hesitant to trust Naidu once again, the BJP joined the alliance at the last minute.
Among the NDA partners, TDP is contesting a majority of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats. Out of 175 Assembly seats, it has left 21 seats for Jana Sena and 10 for BJP. Naidu has also allotted two Lok Sabha seats to the Jana Sena and six to the BJP.
Though the Congress, which drew a blank in the 2014 and 2019 elections, is trying to revive its fortunes by naming Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister Y. S. Sharmila as the state party chief, it is not likely to yield any major gains for the party. Political analysts say the party may marginally improve its vote share and cut into YSRCP votes in the few constituencies.
(This story is sourced from a third-party syndicated feed. Raavi Media takes no responsibility or liability of any nature. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com can alter or delete the content without notice for any reason.)
