Amaravati: The main opposition in Andhra Pradesh YSR Congress yesterday for all 175 assembly seats for the 11 April elections.
Almost all the sitting MLAs have been retained and major share to the backward communities has been given. Some aspirants were denied tickets in a few districts, including Guntur, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam, and this has triggered rebellion in those areas.
Former IAS officer Vara Prasad, who was elected as YSRC MP from Tirupati in 2014, is now being fielded for the assembly from Gudur (SC) constituency.
Former IPS officer K Iqbal has been named for Hindupur against Telugu film star and sitting MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna. Former Union Minister and BJP leader Daggubati Purandeswari’s husband Venkateswara Rao will be the YSRC candidate from Parchuru. Though their son was supposed to be the candidate, his US citizenship came in the way, forcing Venkateswara Rao to jump into the fray though he wanted to retire from active politics. The party has only 15 women candidates out of the 175 and 41 BCs. As many as 12 former ministers, 37 former MLAs and 15 doctors have also been chosen for coming elections.
YSRC chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who quit the Congress over denial of chief ministership, has decided to contest from Pulivendula constituency in Kadapa district. The YSRC chief had won the seat by a record margin of 74,256 votes, which was highest in the state.
In the 2014 general elections, YSRC lost by getting just 0.3 per cent less vote share than the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) that captured power winning 106 seats in alliance with the BJP then. Though the YSRC won 67 seats, as many as 23 of its MLAs defected to the ruling party in 2016 and 2017.
This election is seen as a do-or-die battle for the YSRC and its political longevity will largely depend on the election result. Political strategist Prashant Kishore, who is currently YSRC’s consultant, conducted various rounds of surveys to select the candidates for the assembly election.