13 May,2024 09:56 AM IST | Amaravati | mid-day online correspondent
Pic/AFP
Polling for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh is underway with voters standing in queues to exercise their franchise on Monday.
After an intense campaign marked by fervent speeches from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and several other prominent leaders across political parties over the past several weeks, polling began at 7 am today.
YSRCP president Jagan Mohan Reddy (Pulivendula), TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (Kuppam) and Janasena 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.
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According to a note from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Jagan Mohan Reddy is expected to cast his vote in Bhakarapuram in Pulivendula constituency of Kadapa district on Monday and head back to Tadepalli by 10 am.
The YSRCP is contesting in all 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha segments in the state.
As part of a seat-sharing deal among NDA partners, the TDP was allocated 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies while the BJP is contesting from six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats.
The Janasena is contesting two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats.
The YSR Congress campaign centred around the welfare measures that it implemented during the past five years while the NDA highlighted the "failures" of the state government and the doles it would provide, if voted to power in the state and the job creation it would do.
Besides PM Modi, several union ministers including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, and Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi undertook poll campaigns for their respective party candidates.
For the smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Election Commission has deployed 1.06 lakh security personnel, who included 3,500 Karnataka police, 4,500 Tamil Nadu police, 1,614 ex-servicemen and 246 retired police personnel, among others.
The polling is scheduled from 7 AM to 6 PM in the state, barring a few places where it will conclude one or two hours before.
The total number of voters in the southern state is 4.14 crore, which includes 2.02 crore male, 2.1 crore female, 3,421 third gender voters and 68,185 service electors.
As many as 454 candidates are in the fray for Lok Sabha and 2,387 for Assembly polls, according to Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer MK Meena.
The YSRCP won 151 seats, TDP 23 and Janasena claimed one in the last Assembly polls while the ruling party emerged victorious in 22 and Chandrababu Naidu-led party in three Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections.
(With inputs from Agencies)
