The wave of election and political heat between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) is again being witnessed in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) On the 17th of April, Tirupati is conducting elections for the Parliament seat.
The by election has become a challenge to the ruling and opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh. Both the TDP and the YSRCP are aiming to secure the MP seat and had worked tirelessly for the victory.
The Tirupati Lok Sabha by election started at 7:00 A.M., peacefully and would continue till 7:00 P.M. Close to 17.1 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes and decide the fate of 25 candidates contesting.
The State Election Commission (SEC) arranged 2,470 polling stations in Tirupati constituency. This time, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has exempted village and ward volunteers from poll duties. Only SEC officials and police force have been deployed to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of by election.
Highlighting the other arrangements for Tirupati by poll, authorities identified 877 polling stations as sensitive and deployed Central forces, 37 flying squad teams and officials at the stations. Adding to it, a web casting facility has also been arranged in 1,241 centres.
The SEC followed all the precautions and protocols of the Novel Coronavirus guidelines.
In addition, the ECI appointed three observers, Dinesh Patil as ordinary observer, Rajeev Kumar (police observer) and Anand Kumar, a SEC official for the by poll. Similarly, 816 micro observers have also been appointed.
For the polling staff and SEC officials, the Election Commission of A.P., arranged 570 buses.
The Tirupati Parliamentary constituency, a Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seat fell vacant after the YSRCP Member of Parliament (MP) Balli Durga Prasad succumbed to the Novel Coronavirus. All the major parties of A.P., including the alliance of JanaSena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the TDP and the YSRCP are eying to secure the seat.
There would be a tough competition between the candidates of the aforementioned parties. From the YSRCP, Dr. Gurumurthy is the MP candidate, from the TDP, the former Union Minister Panabaka Lakshmi is contesting for the Tirupati by elections and from JanaSena-BJP alliance, former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer K. Ratna Prabha is in the fray.
The results of the crucial Tirupati by poll would be announced on the 2nd of May.
