Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections: Visakhapatnam to witness a 3-corner contest

Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency Visakhapatnam is one of the twenty-five Lok Sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh. It will go to polls on May 13. The results will be declared on June 4.

Ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP's) candidate Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi faces a tough battle in Visakhapatnam against Telugu Desam Party's Sri Bharat and Congress's P Sathyanarayana Reddy.

Botsa Lakshmi is the wife of the State Education Minister and YSRCP senior leader, Botsa Satyanarayana.

Sri Bharat is the son-in-law of actor Nandamuri Balakrishna.

"TDP and Jana Sena have joined hands with BJP, which is privatizing the steel plant. If we vote for the alliance and they win, it would wrongly signal that we support privatization. Our vote holds the power to prevent this outcome and safeguard the Vizag Steel Plant. Hence, I am urging people not to vote for such parties," Laxmi told last week.

In the 2019 general elections, MVV Satyanarayana of YSRCP defeated TDP's Bharat Mathukumilli in a close contest. Satyanarayana won the seat by 4414 votes. While Jana Sena party candidate VV Lakshmi Narayana secured 288,874 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.