Just before the Election Commission's (EC's) announcement Saturday of the the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled for May 13, the ruling Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP declared its candidates for all 175 Assembly seats and 24 out of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The YSRCP announced the list of its candidates at the “samadhi” (grave) of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy at Idupulupaya in Kadapa district, in the presence of party supremo and CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. Bapatla MP Nandigam Suresh read out the names of the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, while state Revenue Minister D Prasada Rao did so for the Assembly polls. Jagan’s nephew and Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy, who is embroiled in the murder case of their uncle Y S Vivekananda Reddy, has been renominated. Jagan has dropped 14 of the 22 sitting YSRCP MPs or over 60% of the incumbent party MPs, bringing in fresh faces to counter anti-incumbency. Notable among those who have been dropped are sitting Vishakhapatnam MP MVV Satyanaryana, Gorantla Madhav from Hindupur, Chinta Anuradha from Amalapuram, Araku MP Godeti Madhavi, Maragani Bharat Ram from Rajamahendravaram, Talari Rangaiah from Anantapur, and Magunta Srinivasulu from Ongole. Rajya Sabha MP V Vijay Sai Reddy, a close confidant of Jagan, will contest from Nellore. Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana’s wife Botsa Jhani Laxmi will contest from Visakhapatnam. Former minister Poluboina Anil Kumar Yadav will contest from Narasaraopet. There are 11 BC (Backward Classes) candidates, one ST (Scheduled Tribes), four SC (Scheduled Castes), and nine upper caste candidates in the list of nominees for the Lok Sabha polls, with the candidate for the Anakapalli seat yet to been announced. For the Assembly elections, Jagan dropped 25 per cent of the sitting MLAs. In an unusual move, sitting MPs MVV Satyanarayana and Margani Bharat will now contest from the Visakhapatnam East and Rajamahendravam City Assembly seats. Jagan will again contest from Pulivendula. A Ramakrishna Reddy, who resigned from the YSRCP as the Mangalagiri MLA after sensing that he would not be renominated, has been replaced, even though he rejoined the party a few weeks after his exit. M Lavanya will contest in his place. YSRCP sources said that about 50% of the total Lok Sabha and Assembly poll tickets - 16 LS constituencies and 84 Assembly seats – have gone to candidates from the BC/SC/ST and minority communities. Out of the 25 Lok Sabha tickets, four each have gone to SCs and STs, 11 to BCs, and nine to upper castes. There are five women among them. Compared to 2019, there is a significant increase in the representation of SC, ST, BC and minorities in the list, with these marginalised groups getting 11 more Lok Sabha tickets this time. Out of the 175 Assembly tickets, 29 have gone to the nominees from SCs, seven to STs, 48 to BCs and 91 to the upper caste candidates. There are seven minority and 19 women candidates.
