Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat set for big fight

HYDERABAD: The Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat is all set to witness a high-voltage contest with the YSR Congress (YSRCP) on Monday officially naming Vijayamma as its candidate for this urban constituency. TOI had reported this last week. The seat has been allotted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of its alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The saffron party has now the choice of fielding former Union minister Purandeswari or Seemandhra BJP president K Hari Babu.
TDP sources confessed that Vijayamma is a tough candidate and the going will be difficult for its alliance partner BJP. “Wrangling over the Vizag LS seat could cost the alliance dear as it gave the YSR Congress enough time to field a strong candidate from there,” the TDP sources said and added that the presence of Vijayamma could tilt the balance in favour of the YSRCP in the 7 Assembly seats that fall under the Visakhapatnam LS seat. With TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu dead against the BJP giving the ticket to his sister-in-law Purandeswari, the saffron party may finally settle for Hari Babu as its candidate. Analysts averred that Vijayamma’s presence will galvanize the YSRCP cadre not only in the seat but also in many other areas of north coastal Andhra.
Apart from Vijayamma, the YSRCP list announced on Monday has Jaganmohan Reddy as the candidate for the Pulivendula Assembly seat. In all, the party released a list of candidates for 170 Assembly and 24 Lok Sabha seats. Including Jagan and Vijayamma, six members of the YSR family got tickets. Jagan’s cousin Y S Avinash Reddy is the Kadapa LS candidate and his uncle YV Subba Reddy the Ongole Lok Sabha candidate. Another uncle Ravindranath Reddy has been fielded from Kamalapuram Assembly seat and relative Balineni Srinivasa Reddy from the Ongole Assembly seat.
The Mekapati family netted three YSRCP tickets. While Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy was given the Nellore Lok Sabha seat, his brother Mekapati Chandrasekar Reddy is the candidate from Udayagiri Assembly and son Goutham Reddy is the Atmakur Assembly nominee. Similarly, the Bhuma family got three tickets. While Bhuma Nagi Reddy was given the Nandyal Assembly ticket, his wife Shobha has been fielded from Allagadda Assembly and his brother in-law SV Mohan Reddy given the Kurnool Assembly ticket.
Ramky group chairman Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy is the Narsaraopet LS candidate and his brother Alla Ramakrishna Reddy the Mangalagiri Assembly candidate. Two members of the Dharmana family were given tickets. Former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao has been fielded from Srikakulam and his brother Krishna Das from Narsannapet Assembly seats. From the Pedidreddi family, former minister Ramachandra Reddy has been fielded from Punganur Assembly segment while his son Mithun Reddy is the Rajampet Lok Sabha nominee. While Baby Nayana has been named the MP candidate for the Vizianagaram seat, his brother Ravu Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao is the YSRCP MLA candidate from Bobbili. Congress Minister Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy’s relative Kotla Hari Chakrapani Reddy has been fielded from Pattikonda.
Former IAS officer N Chandramouli is the YSRCP candidate against Chandrababu Naidu from Kuppam.
In fact, Jagan gave tickets to all recent entrants into the party. Vedavyas, who joined the party two days ago, has been fielded from Pedana segment, while Jangalapalli Srinivas, another recent entrant, has been given the Chittoor Assembly ticket. Party official spokespersons Ambati Rambabu and Jupudi Prabhakar have been fielded from Sattenapalli and Kondepi Assembly seats, respectively.
Bapatla is the lone Lok Sabha seat for which the YSRCP is yet to announce its candidate.