After weeks of intense campaiging, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are headed to Assembly polls today, May 13, along with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the country. Voting in all assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and some in Odisha kickstarted a 7 am.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh will go to polls to elect 175 members of the state assembly while in CM Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha, 28 assembly segments will witness voting on Monday. Follow Lok Sabha, Assembly Elections 2024 LIVE Updates
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections 2024
The state will witness major contest between 3 groups: the YSRC which is currently in power, the Congress-led INDIA bloc, and the NDA which includes the BJP, TDP led by Chandrababu Naidu, and Jana Sena Party led by Pawan Kalyan.
AIMIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi, who has not been part of any alliances so far, is also in fray for Monday's voting.
The YSR Congress campaign centred around the welfare measures that it implemented during the past five years while the NDA highlighted the "failures" of the state government and the doles it would provide, if voted to power in the state and the job creation it would do.
Besides PM Modi, several union ministers including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, and Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge undertook poll campaigns for their respective party candidates.
The voting began at 7 am and is to end at 6 pm, barring a few places where it will conclude one or two hours before.
Andhra Pradesh: Political Parties Contesting
The ruling YSRCP is contesting in all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.
As part of a seat sharing deal among NDA partners, the TDP was allocated 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies while the BJP will contest from six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats.
The Janasena will contest two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats.
In Lok Sabha elections in the state, YSRCP is contesting in 25 Lok Sabha seats while TDP in 17, BJP in 6 and Janasena in 2.
Andhra Pradesh: Key Candidates
As many as 454 candidates are in the fray for Lok Sabha and 2,387 for Assembly polls, according to Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer MK Meena.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the leader of YSRCP and Chief Minister, is competing from Pulivendla.
Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of TDP, is running for election from Kuppam.
Pawan Kalyan, the leader of Janasena and an actor, is contesting from Pithapuram.
Meanwhile, YS Sharmila, the sister of Jagan and president of Andhra Pradesh Congress, is running for election from Kadapa.
Purandeswari, the chief of BJP in the state, is contesting from Rajamahendravaram for the Lok Sabha elections.
Andhra Pradesh: Total Voters
The total number of voters in the southern state is 4.14 crore, which includes 2.02 crore male, 2.1 crore female, 3,421 third gender voters and 68,185 service electors.
For the smooth conduct of the polls, the Election Commission has deployed 1.06 lakh security personnel, who included 3,500 Karnataka police, 4,500 Tamil Nadu police, 1,614 ex-servicemen and 246 retired police personnel, among others.
The YSRCP won 151 seats, TDP-23 and Janasena-1 in the last Assembly polls while the ruling party emerged victorious in 22 and Chandrababu Naidu-led party in three Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections.
Odisha Assembly Elections 2024
Elections are taking place together for four Lok Sabha areas and 28 assembly parts in Odisha on Monday.
Officials mentioned that the Election Commission has made careful plans to guarantee that the voting process is fair and open to all.
The voting will take place in Berhampur, Koraput, Nabarangpur, and Kalahandi for Lok Sabha, along with the assembly areas that come under these parliamentary seats, according to N B Dhal, the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha.
Voting will begin at 7 AM on Monday in 7,303 polling stations across the four Lok Sabha seats and their assembly segments and will continue till 6 pm, the CEO said, adding that polling personnel reached their respective booths.
The four Lok Sabha seats are spread over six Maoist-affected police districts - Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Kalahandi - and three other police districts of Ganjam, Berhampur and Gajapati, Odisha DGP Arun Kumar Sarangi said.
Voting is scheduled to end at 4 PM and 5 PM in some remote places where Maoist activities are a factor, he said.
Odisha has witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, BJP president JP Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Dev Sai campaigning for BJP candidates in the first round of twin polls.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and senior leader VK Pandian have also campaigned for the BJD. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has addressed a rally at Rayagada under the Koraput Lok Sabha seat through virtual mode.
Odisha: Key Candidates
There are 37 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, while 243 nominees are in the fray for the 28 assembly seats.
Sitting MP Saptagiri Ulaka of Congress from Koraput seat, former MPs Pradeep Majhi of the BJD and Balabhdra Maji of the BJP in Nabarangpur, Pradeep Panigrahi of the BJP and BJD's Bhrugu Baxipatra in Berhampur are among prominent leaders who are contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
State ministers Jagannath Saraka, Rajendra Dholkia, Odisha Congress chief Sarat Patnaik, and Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das are in the fray in assembly polls.
Congress MLAs Taraprasad Bahinipati and Adhiraj Panigrahi, former chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, ex-minister DS Mishra, former leader of opposition Pradipta Naik, former MLA Ramesh Chandra Chayupattnaik are trying their luck in the assembly elections.
Odisha: Total Voters
Altogether 62.87 lakh electors, including 31.89 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first round of the twin polls.
The number of women voters is more than 30.97 lakh men electors in the first phase of polls in the state, he said.
Arrangements for webcasting have been made in 60 per cent of the 7,303 polling stations.
Over 1,264 polling stations, including all booths in Maoist-affected areas, have been identified as critical ones, the CEO said.
The voting process will involve 53,000 polling personnel, with 715 all-women booths and 39 booths to be run by persons with disability, he said.
