But as voters gear up for crucial assembly and parliamentary polls on May 13, all eyes are on the high-stakes battle in Pulivendula, an assembly constituency that has been a Reddy family stronghold for over four decades.
Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's wife Vijayalakshmi filed her nomination, on Tuesday, for the bypoll to Pulivendula assembly seat previously held by her late husband. Vijayalakshmi filed the nomination as Congress candidate.
Vijayalakshmi, widow of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was on declared elected unopposed from Pulivendula Assembly seat in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. Election observer Manish Moudgil said Vijayalakshmi was elected unanimously from Pulivendula assembly constituency.
The Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine on Friday appeared set for an impressive performance in Seemandhra by leading in about 90 Assembly seats, followed by YSR Congress in around 70, out of the total 175 seats in the region.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is contesting from Pulivendula constituency is the son of former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
In a big setback to the chief ministerial ambitions of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the Congress high command has decided to ignore his claim over a ticket for the by-elections to the Pulivendula Assembly constituency which fell vacant due after his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's death. Instead, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has decided to field YSR's widow and Jagan's mother Vijayalakshmi as Congress candidate in Pulivendula, where by election will be held on December 19.
Both Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan assured voters that they would bring jobs and industrial development to the state. Their alliance batted for a welfare-plus-development model.
Making a headstart, YSR Congress Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother Y S Vijayalakshmi on Wednesday separately launched their campaigns for the May 8 by-elections for Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.
Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who has revolted against the Congress leadership, intends to seek re-election from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat and says he is not keen on destabilising the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh.
Counting of votes for the high-profile by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula constituencies in Andhra Pradesh commenced in Kadapa on Friday morning amidst tight security.
All eyes in Andhra Pradesh are on the by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly constituencies, from where Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalaxmi will be contesting.
Vivekananda, the brother of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of Jagan Reddy, was found dead at his residence in Pulivendula, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the state assembly elections.
Y S Vijaya Lakshmi, widow of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was on Thursday unanimously elected as the leader of YSR Congress Legislature Party.
The Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine stormed to power in the residual state of Andhra Pradesh, commonly known as Seemandhra, as the Congress was virtually wiped out in the assembly polls, which were simultaneously held with the Lok Sabha elections.
It has been virtually a ten-year wait that's coming to a happy end for the 47-year-old leader, who nurtured the ambition of becoming chief minister soon after his father's death in September 2009.
The former Congress MP also told his supporters in his hometown Pulivendula near Kadapa that the 2014 assembly elections in the state would be his "finals".
Jaganmohan Reddy will be sworn in as chief minister on May 30.
Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha will be held simultaneously in the first phase.
Reddy alone will take oath on Thursday while his Council of Ministers is likely to be constituted on June 7, party sources said.
Terming as "very cruel" the way bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was done, YSR Congress Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday said that he has kept open all options on post-poll alliance.
YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has resigned as Kadapa MP in protest against "unilateral and arrogant posturing" of Congress party on the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh but stopped short of spelling out his party's stand on the statehood issue.
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