Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance parties is yet to announce candidates for six of the 15 constituencies in the three districts, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju.
In Visakhapatnam district, candidates are yet to be selected for four important constituencies – Bheemunipatnam, Visakhapatnam North, South and Pendurthi. Among these, Bheemunipatnam has about 3.56 lakh voters, the highest among the other constituencies. Similarly, candidates are to be announced for Yelamanchali in Anakapalli district and Paderu in ASR district. Though official announcements were not made by the parties, some of the candidates have already been reportedly promised seats in some constituencies and they are given nod to start working. As per the party sources, JSP is fielding candidates from Pendurthi, Visakhapatnam South and Yelamanchali, while Visakhapatnam North is being taken over by the BJP.
Some of the leaders from the alliance parties say the delay may harm prospects of the candidates. The YSR Congress Party has announced candidates for all the seats.
However, a senior leader from the TDP said that the high command has been conducting survey in some constituencies and in some constituencies, the JSP has almost confirmed the candidates. He also said that it is just a strategic delay to select the best candidates.
Senior TDP leaders like Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy and Ganta Srinivasa Rao are yet to receive any confirmation about their seats. While the TDP wants Mr. Srinivasa Rao to contest from Cheepurupalli against Education Minister and senior YSRCP leader Botcha Satyanarayana, the TDP leader expressed his interest in Bheemunipatnam. It was learnt that a survey by the TDP has recommended that the party high command should allow him to contest from Bheemunipatnam. However, a final call is yet to be taken by the TDP.
