The TDP has released the full list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which will be held simultaneously with the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh on April 11. The is all set to witness a political battle between the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the opposition YSRCP. Actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party and his alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Left parties will be a third option on the ballot for voters in the state.
The TDP, led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, hopes to retain power in the state. It is a crucial election for the party as it hopes to prove its critics wrong and show that it still enjoys the support of the people of the state.
Here’s the full list of TDP candidates for each of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state:
1. Srikakulam
The TDP has fielded incumbent MP, K Ram Mohan Naidu, son of late Yerran Naidu and one of the youngest parliamentarians in the country.
2. Vizianagaram
The TDP has fielded Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who hails from a royal family that was once part of the Vizianagaram kingdom. The senior leader also served as a Union Minister in the NDA government before the TDP-BJP alliance split.
3. Visakhapatnam
MV Sribharat is the TDP candidate here. The great-grandson of businessman-politician and founder of GITAM University MVVS Murthi, Bharat is also the son-in-law of actor-politician N Balakrishna.
4. Araku
Former Union Minister Kishore Chandra Deo, a senior Congress leader who recently joined the TDP, was given the Araku ticket.
Image: PTI
5. Anakapalle
Adari Anand, a new face, has been nominated by the TDP to contest from this Lok Sabha constituency.
6. Kakinada
Chalamalasetti Sunil, an NRI-businessman and a former YSRCP leader who had contested on the opposition party’s ticket in 2014, has been named as the TDP candidate.
7. Rajahmundry
The TDP has fielded Maganti Roopa, daughter-in-law of industrialist and ex-MP Maganti Murali Mohan.
8. Narsapuram
The TDP has fielded two-time MLA from Undi constituency, Vetukuri Venkata Shiva Rama Raju, who is also an industrialist.
9. Amalapuram
Ganti Harish Madhur will be contesting on a TDP ticket. He is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi, who died in a chopper crash in 2002.
10. Eluru
Maganti Venkateswara Rao, also known as Maganti Babu, has been fielded by the TDP from Eluru. He is a senior leader, who has served two terms as an MP and was also a minister in former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy's cabinet between 2004 and 2009 when he was in the Congress.
11. Vijayawada
Kesineni Srinivas alias Nani, an industrialist and owner of the Kesineni group of companies, will be contesting on a TDP ticket.
12. Machilipatanam
Two-time MP Konakalla Narayana, a contractor-turned-agriculturalist-turned-politician, has been fielded by the TDP.
13. Guntur
Galla Jayadev, one of the wealthiest politicians in India who had declared assets worth Rs 683 crore in 2014 as the managing director of Amar Raja Group, has been renominated by the TDP.
14. Narasaraopeta
In Narsaraopeta, the TDP has fielded sitting MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, an industrialist and former Congress man, who jumped ship after the state’s bifurcation in 2014.
15. Bapatla
Sriram Malyadri, a former IRS officer and sitting MP, has been announced as the TDP candidate.
16. Ongole
TDP leader Sidda Raghava Rao, who was a minister in Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s cabinet until recently, will contest from Ongole.
17. Nellore
Beedha Masthan Rao, the chairman of BMR Group, a shrimp farming and exports firm, is a close aide of Naidu and will be contesting from TDP.
18. Hindupur
Nimmala Kristappa, senior TDP leader who was first elected as an MP in 2009, has been renominated.
19. Anantapur
JC Pavan Reddy, the son of sitting TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy, has been fielded by the TDP.
20. Kadapa
The TDP has fielded Adinarayana Reddy, who was elected as an MLA from YSRCP and later defected to the ruling TDP and was inducted into the Cabinet.
21. Kurnool
In Kurnool, the TDP is banking on senior leader and former Union Minister Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy, the son of former CM Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy.
22. Nandyal
In Nandyal, the TDP has fielded Mandra Shivanad Reddy, a retired police officer.
23. Rajampet
D A Sathya Prabha, the sitting MLA of Chittor and the wife of former MP D K Adikesavulu Naidu, whose family runs the Vydehi Group of educational and medical institutes, is the TDP candidate here.
24. Chittoor
Siva Prasad, an actor-turned-MP, famous for his unique protests in Parliament during his last term, has been renominated by TDP.
25. Tirupati
The TDP has fielded Panabaka Lakshmi, a senior Congress leader and a former Union Minister, who recently joined the party.