E-Paper
Poll campaigning comes to an end in Telangana and Andhra
Polling will be held for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, while Andhra Pradesh will go to polls for the 175-member state assembly, besides 25 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections.
Campaigning came to a close for the elections in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at 6pm on Saturday, with the political parties keeping their fingers crossed over their fate in the polling that will be held on Monday.
Polling will be held for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, while Andhra Pradesh will go to polls for the 175-member state assembly, besides 25 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections.
In Telangana, the Election Commission has also made arrangements to conduct a by-poll for the Secunderabad (Cantonment) Assembly seat, which has fallen vacant due to the sudden death of sitting Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Lasya Nandita on February 23.
According to Telangana chief electoral officer Vikas Raj, more than 30.3 million voters are expected to exercise their franchise in 35,356 polling stations across the state. In all, 625 candidates are in fray for the 17 Lok Sabha seats.
Prominent among the contestants in Telangana are Union minister for tourism and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy, former state BJP president Bandi Sanjay, BJP national vice president DK Aruna, Telangana Congress vice president Mallu Ravi, sitting MP G Ranjit Reddy, former ministers T Jeevan Reddy and Danam Nagender (all from Congress) and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi.
In Andhra Pradesh, 503 candidates are in the fray for Lok Sabha and 2,705 for assembly polls, according to state chief electoral officer MK Meena. In all, 40.41 million voters will exercise their franchise, he said.
YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (Pulivendla), TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (Kuppam) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief and actor Pawan Kalyan (Pithapuram), among others, are in the assembly poll race.
Andhra Pradesh Congress president and Jagan’s sister YS Sharmila (Kadapa) and BJP state chief Purandeswari (Rajamahendravaram), among others, are in Lok Sabha poll fray.
The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4 nationwide.
Several top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, besides Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikrajun Kharge, addressed several rallies and road shows in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Besides, YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has extensively toured all corners of Andhra Pradesh to lead the campaign under the banner of ’Siddham’. On the other hand, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu made a whirlwind tour of Andhra and addressed rallies under the banner of ‘Praja Galam’. JSP chief Pawan Kalyan and Congress president Y S Sharmila, too, indulged in the campaign in the state.
In Telangana, the BRS campaign was spearheaded by its president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his son KT Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao. Telangana recorded 62% voter turnout in the 2019 parliamentary elections. The BRS (then TRS) won nine seats, BJP - four, Congress - three and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) - one seat in the 2019 elections.
In Andhra, the YSRCP is contesting in all 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha segments in the state. As part of a seat sharing deal with the NDA, the TDP was allocated 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies while the BJP will contest from six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats. The JSP will contest two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats. The YSRCP won 151 seats, TDP 23 seat and Janasena one seat in the last Assembly polls while the ruling party emerged victorious in 22 and Chandrababu Naidu-led party in three Lok Sabha seats in 2019 elections.
