BJP releases names of its candidates for Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh assembly elections

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced the names of its candidates for most of the seats in Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh Assemblies, which will go the polls along with the Lok Sabha election on April 11. The party has named its candidates for 123 seats in the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly and for 54 seats in the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly, according to a statement.

BJP releases its list of candidates for the 123 seats of Andhra Pradesh for upcoming legislative assembly elections pic.twitter.com/A3kkwBhQI8

— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2019

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has been fielded from Mukto constituency. In Andhra Pradesh, the two main challengers for power are Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress with the BJP hoping to improve its tally. The BJP came to power in Arunachal Pradesh after a majority of Congress MLAs deserted the party to ally with it and later joined it. 

Earlier in the day, the YSR Congress released its full list of candidates for 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly constituencies. YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy released the list after paying homage to his late father and former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy at their family estate in Idupulapaya of Kadapa district.

Of the 25 Lok Sabha candidates, seven were from backward classes, four Scheduled Castes and one Scheduled Tribe, Jagan said, adding among the 175 Assembly candidates, 41 belonged to the backward classes and five to the Muslim community. Only two candidates, who were elected as party MPs in 2014, have been re-nominated, while for the remaining 23 seats, the YSRC has chosen new nominees.
It dropped Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and YV Subba Reddy, who represented Nellore and Ongole constituencies respectively, while Vara Prasad, who was Tirupati MP, has now been fielded for the from Gudur (SC) Assembly constituency. Modugula Venugopal Reddy, the TDP MLA who recently joined the YSRC, has been made the party candidate for the Guntur Lok Sabha seat.

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On Thursday, the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh released its first list of 126 candidates for the assembly election, amid unprecedented protests and rebellion in the party. The name of Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh figured in the list announced by Naidu himself at a late-night press conference.

He called it "Mission 150 Plus", as the party aimed to win at least 150 out of the total 175 seats in the assembly. He said the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha election, scheduled simultaneously, would be announced Friday.