Voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections across 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh will take place simultaneously with the Assembly elections on May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) won 22 of the 25 seats in the state in the 2019 general elections, restricting N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to just three. While YSRCP secured 49.89% vote share, the TDP could only manage 40.19% in the state.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, YSRCP is pitted against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the BJP, TDP and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party. As per the seat-sharing pact between the three parties, TDP will field its candidates across 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while the BJP and JSP have six and two seats.
In the competition t is the Congress-led INDIA bloc, which includes CPI(M) and CPI. YS Sharmila, younger sister of CM Jagan Reddy, is leading the Congress party in the state. Of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, four are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and one for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
As per the official data, the total number of voters in the state as of March 16 is 4.09 crore, which is an increase from 4.07 crore recorded on January 22. These include 2.08 crore women and 3,346 of the third gender.
Here's a look at the key seats in the state:
The seat witnessed a close contest in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when YSRCP's MVV Satyanarayana defeated TDP candidate Mathkumilli Bharath by a little over 4,000 votes. While the TDP has once again pinned hope on Bharath this time, YSRCP has fielded Dr Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi.
A YSRCP bastion, YS Avinash Reddy has won from this seat in the last two general elections -- 2014 and 2019. However, this time he is expected to face a tough contest from Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president YS Sharmila Reddy, who is likely to be fielded from this seat in 2024 polls.
Once a stronghold of the Congress, Nellore is set to witness a high-profile contest between YSRCP's Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy and Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, who recently quit the YSRCP and joined the TDP.
YSRCP's two-time Lok Sabha MP PV Midhun Reddy is eyeing a third term from this seat this time. The BJP is likely to field former Chief Minister N. Kirankumar Reddy from this seat.
The YSRCP is looking forward to continuing its winning streak in this holy city and has again fielded Maddila Gurumoorthy, who won the 2021 by-election by over 2.7 lakh votes. The NDA is yet to announce its candidate for this seat.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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