The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has tried to pull out all the stops to make a comeback to power while the opposition parties have tried to corner it on several fronts.
The YSRCP has fielded candidates from all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State for the elections slatred for May 13 (Monday).
In the run-up to the 2019 general elections, YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy released the list of candidates for all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats at one go. However, the party leadership conducted an elaborate exercise and changed candidates from 81 Assembly segments and a few Lok Sabha seats. The party released more than eight lists naming the coordinators for each Assembly and Lok Sabha constituency, before announcing the final list of candidates in March.
The party has given tickets to candidates belonging to SC, ST, BC and minority communities from 50% of the constituencies. Of the candidates from 175 Assembly seats, 29 belong to SC communities, seven to STs, 48 to BCs, 91 to OCs, along with 19 women candidates.
The leaders who were asked to contest from constituencies other than those they were representing include Ministers, and some were even denied tickets depending on the survey reports on their performances. Subsequently, some Ministers such as Gummana Jayaram and sitting MPs such as Vemirddy Prabhakar Reddy switched loyalties to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
The YSRCP campaign centred around the welfare measures it implemented during the past five years. Throughout his campaign, the party leaders tried to convey to the voters that the YSRCP government had implemented 99% of the promises made in the party manifesto in the run-up to the 2029 elections.
Claiming that all the welfare schemes would be withdrawn if the YSRCP was not elected again, the ruling party leaders focused on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes and the nine flagship welfare schemes (Navaratnalu).
However, the opposition parties tried to corner the YSRCP over the murder of former Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. Narreddy Suneetha Reddy, daughter of the slain MP and APCC president Y.S. Sharmila, sister of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, raised the murder case during the campaign. Ms. Sharmila is contesting from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat against her cousin and sitting YSRCP MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy, who has been named in the murder case.
The TDP-JSP-BJP alliance highlighted the A.P. Land Titling Act and tried to convey to the voters what it called the “ill effects” of the ACT. The alliance promised to withdraw the Act if it came to power.
The court’s directive on utilising the services of village and ward volunteers in the distribution of pensions and other benefits of welfare schemes was also highlighted by both the YSRCP and the opposition parties who blame each other for the inconvenience caused to the beneficiaries. The ECI transferred many IAS and IPS officers including the Director General of Police (DGP) ahead of the elections.
In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP won 22 of the 25 look Sabha seats in the State, while the TDP emerged victorious in three seats. The YSRCP managed a 49.95% vote share, while the TDP could get 39.17% votes.
