Andhra: Vijayawada to vote in phase 4 on May 13; will TDP retain the seat?

This year, the Congress party has fielded Valluru Bhargav from the Vijayawada seat. Kesineni Sivanath is contesting on behalf of the Telugu Desam Party. The ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) is being represented by Kesineni Srinivas.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Vijayawada along with Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu and JanaSena Party chief Pawan Kalyan.

Mukesh Kumar Meena (CEO, Andhra Pradesh) told ANI on Saturday, "As per police arrangement, 45,000 people are from state civil police. We are taking home guards and civil police. Another 10,000 people (forces) are coming from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 295 companies of Central Armed Police Forces will also be deployed. Out of which, 40 companies are on their way and the rest have been already posted".

In the 2019 general elections, TDP's Kesineni Srinivas bagged the Vijayawada seat by a narrow margin. He defeated YSRCP's Potluri V Prasad by 8726 votes. TDP secured a vote share of 45.0 per cent against 44.4 per cent by YSRCP.

While JanaSena party candidate Muttamsetty Prasad Babu secured 81650 votes.

Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be held simultaneously in the state on May 13. The counting of the votes for both elections will take place on June 4.

Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the YSRCP won 22 seats, while the TDP could only win three seats.

The principal opposition party TDP will take on the ruling YSRCP. TDP has an alliance with the Jana Sena Party and the BJP.

As part of a seat-sharing deal among NDA partners, TDP was allocated 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies while BJP will contest from six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats. JanaSena will contest two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the YSRCP won with a thumping majority of 151 seats, while the TDP was confined to 23 seats. (ANI)