The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released their second list of candidates for 52 Assembly seats and 23 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The party has nominated women candidates for two Lok Sabha seats and nine Assembly seats.
For the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has fielded former union minister Daggubati Purandeswari, who is the daughter of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao. She was earlier elected from Visakhapatnam as an MP on a Congress ticket in 2009.
For the Anantapur Lok Sabha seat, the party has fielded Hamsa Devineni, a state spokesperson, who will be contesting for the first time.
The party has fielded actor Pasupuleti Madhavi Latha, who known for her work in Tamil and Telugu films, from Guntur (West).
For Assembly elections, the party has fielded Bhagya Lakshmi from Narsannapet, Vijaya Lakshmi Singampalli from Madugula, Venkata Lakshmi Bogaram from Polavaram, Sunitha Tadangi from Palakonda, Battula Lakshmi Kumar from Razole, Pole Shanti from Tiruvuru,
Suhasini Anand, the BJPs official spokesperson will be contesting from the Vishakapatanam (East) and BJ Vasundhara Devi will be contesting from Rayadurg Assembly constituency. Many of these women are first-time contenders and will be taking on much stronger candidates from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSRCP.
The BJP has also given a ticket to Vangaveeti Narendra, the nephew of late Congress legislator and Kapu leader Vangaveeti Ranga, who will contest from Vijayawada (East).
The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party has released the 2nd list of BJP candidates for the ensuing General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and bye-elections to the Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya. pic.twitter.com/GZKhLNyOqQ
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 23, 2019
Another notable entry is of Satya Gopinath Das Paravasthu, former president of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) Rajamahendravaram, who will be contesting from Rajamahendravaram constituency.
In the 2014 state elections in Andhra Pradesh, the BJP was in an alliance with the TDP and the Jana Sena and had won just 9 of out of the 175 Assembly seats in the state.
There are a total of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and the state will go to simultaneous polls on April 11.
Correction: The story had earlier mentioned that Satya Gopinath Das Paravasthu was the President of ISKCON in Rajamundry. However, he resigned from his post in November 2018.