Hyderabad:
Counting for 18 assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh will take place today. YSR Congress, whose leader Jagan Mohan Reddy is in jail, is expected to sweep the by-polls. Here's a look at some of the candidates who are YSR Congress' best hopes for victory.
Nellore (Lok Sabha)
YSR Congress candidate Makepati Rajamohan Reddy won the elections from Nellore Lok Sabha in 2009 on a Congress ticket but later switched sides to Jagan Mohan Reddy. The constituency has been a Congress stronghold with Telugu Desam winning it only in 1999. He faces a tough contest for this seat from Congress heavyweight T Subbiram Reddy who has been junior Minister in UPA-I.
AssemblyRamachandrapuram (District - East Godavari)62-year-old P. Subash Chandra Bose is a former Congress minister. He has won four out of the six times he has contested from this constituency. He has been a Minister in the Congress governments led by Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and K Rosaiah governments.
Polavaram (District - West Godavari) Tellam Balaraju (37) was elected from this constituency in 2004 and 2009 on a Congress ticket. Mr Balaraju worked as a clerk in District Co-operative Central Bank before he plunged into politics.
Narsapuram (District - West Godavari)The YSR Congress party candidate Mudunuri Prasad Raju (39) was elected from this constituency in 2009 elections on Congress ticket. He belongs to kshatriya community which is numerically small but very influential. A dyed-in-wool loyalist of the late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, he was given Congress ticket in 2004 elections but lost to then TDP candidate Kothapalli Subba Rayudu.
Prathipadu (District - East Godavari) Mekathoti Sucharita (35) is a Post Graduate in Political Science and won from here in the 2009 on a Congress ticket. She hails from Mala community. It is said, she got the Congress ticket at the instance of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and she has continued her loyalty.
Ongole (District - Prakasam)Balineni Sreenivas Reddy (48) comes from an influential political family, closely related to Y S Rajasekhar Reddy's family. He is top leader of the YSR Congress and has represented the constituency for three consecutive terms. He was a minister in the cabinets of YSR and K Rosaiah. He resigned from the ministry when Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy fell out with the Congress and helped him float a new party.
Payakaraopet (District - Visakhapatnam)Golla Babu Rao (55) entered politics by joining Congress after resigning from his job as Joint Commissioner in Panchayat Raj Department. Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy gave him Congress ticket in 2009 elections which he won with slender margin of 654 votes. Babu Rao hails from West Godavari district and did his M A and LLB from the Osmania University.
Macherla (District- Guntur)Pinnelli Lakshma Reddy, former MLA and a veteran Congressman is locked in horns with his nephew, Pinneli Ramakrishna Reddy, who is fighting on YSR Congress ticket. A close confidant of Jagan, the junior Reddy is one of the candidates hand-picked by Jagan in the 2009 elections. Riding on a wave of anti-incumbency, Pinnelli Lakshma Reddy of Congress won by a majority of 30,000 votes against his rival Julakanti Brahma Reddy of TDP in 2004. In 2009, Congress allotted the ticket to his nephew Ramakrishna Reddy, whose resignation paved the way for the by-election.
Tirupathi (District - Chittoor)Bhumana Karunakar Reddy served as the Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board. Karunakar Reddy also served as the Chairman of the Tirupati Urban Development Authority. He was a close confidant of former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Karunakar Reddy remains a die-hard supporter of YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy. He lost the election to Chiranjeevi by a margin of 10,000 votes last time but is fancying his chances this time around.
Kodur (District - YSR Kadapa)Koramutla Srinivasulu (K. Srinivasulu) was elected to Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Kodur Constituency of Kadapa district during 2009 elections. Kodur constituency was reserved for SC community as the segment has about 50000 SC voters. Srinivasulu is a staunch follower of late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy. He is also a close associate of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Allagadda (District - Kurnool)YSR Congress candidate Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy represented the Allagadda constituency in the present Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh, before resigning due to political turmoil in her party, the PRP. She served as the chairperson of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) for two years and is the only woman to hold that position. She was also the spokesperson for the Prajarajyam party, having previously been a state committee member in the Telugu Desam Party. Recently, she left the Prajarajyam party and joined the YSR Congress.