Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Key contests to watch out for in Andhra Pradesh

2019 Lok Sabha elections were conducted in seven phases, where voting in the state of Andhra Pradesh were held in the first phase along with the Assembly Elections with 175 seats on April 11.

News Nation Exit Poll has predicted the YSRCP, TDP, are likely to bag 15-17, 7-9 seats respectively. On the other hand, both the BJP and Congress may bag 0-2 seats each. Talking about the National Exit Poll Survey, conducted by News Nation, the BJP-led NDA will sail past the magic figure winning 282-290 seats, while UPA may get 118-126 seats.

Here are some of the key contests in the state of Andhra Pradesh:

1. Visakhapatnam (2014 Result: BJP, Winner: K Hari Babu, Margin: 90,488)
2019 candidates: M Bharat (TDP) Vs MVV Satyanarayana (YSRCP) Vs Daggubati Purandeswari (BJP) Vs Ramana Kumari Pedada (Congress)

NTR's daughter and BJP leader Daggubati Purandeswari faced M Bharat of TDP and MVV Satyanarayana of YSRCP from Visakhapatnam. In 2014, Purandeswari was defeated by YSRCP's PV Midhun Reddy by 1,74,762 votes in Rajampet. In 2014, BJP's K Hari Babu won the seat by defeating Jaganmohan Reddy's mother YS Vijayamma with a margin of 90,488 votes. In the last seven elections, the Congress was successful four times in 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2009. The TDP won it in 1991 and 1999 whereas the BJP won it for the first time in its history in the last elections with the TDP's backing.

2. Narasaraopet (2014 Result: TDP, Winner: Sambasiva Rao Rayapati, Margin: 35,280)
2019 candidates: Sambasiva Rao Rayapati (TDP) Vs Lavu Krishna Devarayalu (YSRCP) Vs Kanna Lakshminarayana (BJP) Vs Pakkala Suribabu (Congress) 

BJP state president Kanna Lakshminarayana locked horns with TDP's sitting MP Sambasiva Rao Rayapati and YSRCP's Lavu Krishna Devarayal. In 2014, Rayapati defeated YSRCP candidate Ayodhya Ramireddy Alla by 35,280 votes. In the last seven elections, the Congress had won the seat four times in 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004. The TDP grabbed the seat in 1996, 2009 and 2014.

3. Kurnool (2014 Result: YSRCP, Winner: Butta Renuka, Margin: 44,131)

2019 candidates: Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy (TDP) Vs Sanjeev Kumar (YSRCP) Vs Dr PV Parthasarthi (BJP) Vs Ahmed Ali Khan (Congress)

Former Andhra CM Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy's son and TDP candidate Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy fought a battle in Kurnool against YSRCP candidate Sanjeev Kumar and BJP's PV Parthasarthi. Congress candidate Ahmed Ali Khan is also in the fray. In 2014 elections, YSRCP candidate Butta Renuka defeated TDP's BT Naidu by a margin of 44,131 votes. Suryaprakash Reddy was the Congress candidate that time and came third. In last seven elections, Reddy won the seat for Congress three times in 1991, 2004 and 2009. His father Vijaya Bhaskara won the seat for the Grand Old Party twice in 1996 and 1998. The TDP won it in 1999 whereas the YSRCP snatched the seat in 2014.

4. Vizianagaram (2014 Result: TDP, Winner: Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Margin: 1,06,911)
2019 candidates: Ashok Gajapathi Raju (TDP) Vs Bellani Chandrasekhar (YSRCP) Vs P Sanyasi Raju (BJP) Vs Yedla Adiraju (Congress)

Former Union minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju was locked in a tough battle with YSRCP's Bellani Chandrasekhar and Congress candidate Yedla Adiraju. Raju was the civil aviation minister in the Modi Cabinet till 2018. The seat was established after the delimitation process in 2009. It was first won by the Congress party in 2009. In 2014, Raju defeated YSRCP candidate VSCKK Rangarao Ravu by 1,06,911 votes.