All set for Triangular fight in Andhra

A little over 3.93 crore voters in Andhra Pradesh will decide the fortunes of 319 candidates for Lok Sabha seats and 2,118 candidates in Assembly polls. Authorities have set up 46,120 polling stations, of which 9,000 booths are considered sensitive.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in all 13 districts of the state. Officials said besides the 55,000 state police force, 60 companies of Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP), 5,666 personnel from other states and 197 companies of the central armed police forces were deployed.

Ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) are locked in a direct fight for power. Jana Sena of actor Pawan Kalyan, which is making its debut and contesting in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the left parties, may influence the verdict in few constituencies. The prospects of both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, which are contesting on their own, appear bleak.

In 2014 elections, the TDP had bagged 102 seats while its then ally BJP had won four seats. The YSRCP had won 67 seats. Two Independents were also elected. In the simultaneous elections held for the Lok Sabha, the TDP had bagged 15 seats while the BJP got two. YSRCP candidates were elected from eight constituencies.

Chief Minister and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Jana Sena leader and actor Pawan Kalyan, Naidu's son Nara Lokesh (both making their electoral debut), Naidu's brother-in-law and actor N. Balakrishna and state Congress chief Raghuveera Reddy are among the prominent candidates.

Key contestants for the Lok Sabha include former Union Ministers Kishore Chandra Deo, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy (all TDP), M.M. Pallam Raju and J.D. Seelam (Congress), D. Purandeswari (BJP), state BJP chief Kanna Lakshminarayana and former CBI Joint Director V.V. Lakshminarayana (Jana Sena).