Riding the anti-establishment wave, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is heading for a landslide victory in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections to wrest power from Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led alliance was leading in 158 constituencies in the 175-member Assembly while the YSRCP was ahead in only 20 segments, as per the trends at around 1 p.m.
TDP appears to be capturing power on its own, with leads in 131 segments. The first two trends also went in favour of the party led by former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
TDP's ally, the Jana Sena Party (JSP), led by actor politician Pawan Kalyan was leading in 20 constituencies, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ahead in seven segments.
Senior TDP leader G. Butchaiah Chowdary secured a significant lead in Rajahmundry Rural seat, against Backward Class Welfare Minister Chelluboina Venugopala Krishna of YSRCP.
In Rajahmundry City constituency, Adireddy Srinivas of the TDP is leading.
Chief Minister and YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu had taken early leads in Pulivendula and Kuppam constituencies, respectively.
Pawan Kalyan was also leading in Pithapuram Assembly constituency. JSP political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar had also taken a lead in Tenali constituency.
Chandrababu Naidu's brother-in-law and actor N. Balakrishna was leading in Hindupur, while Naidu's son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh was also ahead in Mangalagiri.
The tripartite alliance got a clear lead in all three regions -- north coastal Andhra, south coastal Andhra, and Rayalaseema.
Barring Jagan Mohan Reddy's home district of Kadapa, the alliance is heading for a sweep in all the districts. Almost all the ministers were trailing in their respective constituencies.
The NDA was also leading in 20 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The TDP was ahead in 16 constituencies. The BJP candidates had taken the lead in four constituencies, while JSP was ahead in two places.
YSRCP candidates were leading in three Lok Sabha constituencies.
A heavy voter turnout of 82.73 per cent was recorded in the simultaneous elections for the Assembly and Lok Sabha on May 13.
In 2019, the YSRCP secured a landslide victory, winning 151 of the 175 Assembly seats with a 49.95 per cent vote share. The TDP could secure 23 seats with 39.17 per cent of the votes, while the remaining seats went to the Jana Sena.
YSR Congress had also won 22 Lok Sabha seats, while the remaining three went to the TDP.
The BJP and Congress drew blanks in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
This time, the state witnessed a direct fight between YSRCP and the NDA, comprising TDP, Jana Sena and BJP.
Under the seat sharing agreement, TDP contested 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha seats.
The JSP fielded candidates in 21 Assembly segments and two Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJP contested 10 Assembly and six Lok Sabha seats.
For the Assembly elections, a total of 2,387 candidates are in the fray. For 25 Lok Sabha seats, 454 candidates tested their fortunes.
The Congress party fielded candidates in 159 Assembly and 23 Lok Sabha constituencies.
It has left the remaining seats for its allies, CPI and CPI-M. However, none of them was leading in any Assembly or Lok Sabha constituency.
