The stage is set for the high-profile by-election to Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh tomorrow, which will determine the political future of former MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
The by-election to Kadapa constituency was caused by the resignation of Mr. Jagan from his Lok Sabha seat as well as Congress party in November last.
His mother Vijayalakshmi, who represented Pulivendula for about a year in the State Assembly after the death of her husband and former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, too followed her son and quit her post.
Victory or defeat in Pulivendula may not make any difference as such for Ms. Vijayalakshmi but for Mr. Jagan, it is a do-or-die battle in Kadapa as he fights to establish his political credentials, now that he has floated his own political party YSR Congress.
For the ruling Congress, its prestige is at stake in Kadapa as the Lok Sabha seat always remained in its kitty, thanks to YSR.
Now, the tide has clearly turned against Congress though the party desperately invoked YSR’s name to win over the electorate.
State Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy is the Congress nominee in Kadapa but stands no chance at all.
The TDP won from Kadapa only once, way back in 1984, and as such it too has little stakes here.
But, the party’s sitting Rajya Sabha member M V Mysura Reddy, who is the candidate for the Lok Sabha by-election, is giving Mr. Jagan a tough fight with solid support in at least two Assembly segments.
The Pulivendula Assembly seat was held by YSR and his family for decades. Interestingly, the fight for this seat is now within the family as YSR’s younger brother Vivekananda Reddy is taking on his sister-in-law after he fell out with her on their political course.
The TDP is nowhere in contest in this segment though it has fielded a local candidate Ravindranath Reddy to make it appear a triangular fight.
The fate of these candidates will, however, be known only on May 13 when counting of votes takes place.
