All eyes will be on Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh in the second phase of polling on Thursday as this is one area the election commission has marked as a sensitive area, where trouble is likely. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is a candidate from this district.
Brigitte Langenhagen, a former MP of the European Parliament, has come from Germany to Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, to report on how fair and free the elections are in this constituency.
Kadapa has two high profile politicians contesting - Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy from Pulivendula assembly constituency and his son Jagan Mohan Reddy from the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.
"When people cast their votes, they are hindered from doing so, they are intimidated. In some cases, they are afraid so they won't go,'' says Brigitte Langenhagen, former member of European parliament.
Kadapa will be like a fortress on polling day - with 6000 police personnel, 10000 people accused of electoral malpractices in the past asked to leave Kadapa district and 76 polling stations in Pulivendula under video surveillance.
''Earlier in Kadapa, certain candidates were not even going to certain villages. First time, we have declared that anyone can go anywhere and we have taken care of it,'' says D S Chauhan, SP, Kadapa.
The Election Commission's tight bandobast in Kadapa is a victory for the opposition TDP which has made a lot of noise about voters and their polling agents being intimated by Congressmen. But if both YSR and his son record convincing victories, they will have enough reason to cock a snook at the same critics.
