Polling in 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana and for 175 assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in neighboring Andhra Pradesh has begun at 8 am today.
Prominent among the early voters are the TDP Chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who came out in the morning to cast their vote in Amaravati, while the YSRCP in his native Pulivendula in Kadapa district.
Some of the prominent, who are in are in the contest are; Asaduddin Owaisi, the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief is seeking re-election from Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, while the Congress firebrand Renuka Choudhary taking on the ruling TRS nominee Nama Nageshwara Rao in Khammam, TRS nominee and state chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao’s daughter, K Kavintha has locked horns in Nizamabad in a triangular contest with the BJP’s D Aravind and Congress leader Madhu Yaski Goud.
Apart from these three prime contenders, there are a record 182 candidates in the fray and the Election Commission has made special arrangements for EVMs to be used during polling.
In politically volatile, Guntur Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, Galla Jayadev, a sitting is MP is fighting to retain a four-cornered contest facing challenged from BJP’s Valluru Jayaprakash Narayana and Congress nominee Shaik Mastan Vali besides the YSRCP candidate Modugula Venugopal Reddy. Galla Jaydev is the richest candidate, who disclosed over Rs 700 cr in his election affidavit.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Assembly elections are simultaneously going in for polls with Lok Sabha.
TDP President and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is contesting from Kuppam constituency, while his son Nara Lokesh is making his electoral debut from Mangalagiri seat. In Pulivendula constituency, YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy is seeking re-election from his traditional family bastion.