Filing of nominations for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh will begin on Thursday as the Election Commission issued notification kickstarting the election process.
The nominations from candidates for the 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats will be accepted from April 18 to 25 April between 11 am and 3 pm.
According to Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena, nominations will be scrutinised on April 26 and the last date for candidates to withdraw them is April 29 and the polling will be held on May 13.
YSRCP chief and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy (Pulivendula), TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (Kuppam) and his son Nara Lokesh (Mangalagiri) and Janasena founder and actor Pawan Kalyan (Pithapuram) , are among the key leaders contesting Assembly polls while Andhra Pradesh BJP chief D Purandeswari (Rajahmundry), APCC president and Jagan’s sister YS Sharmila (Kadapa) are in Lok Sabha poll fray.
While the YSRCP is fighting solo, TDP, Janasena and BJP are part of the NDA. The Congress has said it will have tie up with its INDIA alliance partners CPI and CPM in the state.
The CEO said Parliamentary candidates have to deposit Rs 25,000 and Assembly candidates Rs 10,000, which is halved in the case of SC/ST candidates.
To record the entire nominations procedure, the Election Commission has set up CCTV cameras in the office where the nominations are received and also the way leading to it, said Meena.
As part of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the CEO said the poll body will also record the candidates coming in a procession to file their nominations.
Moreover, Meena highlighted that from the time of filing the nominations, a candidate’s expenditure will be accounted for, along with announcements in newspapers and paid news.
Andhra Pradesh is currently witnessing a high voltage campaign by all the major political parties.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, YSRCP won 22 seats while TDP got three. In the Assembly polls held in the same year, the ruling YSR Congress became victorious with 151 seats while the TDP managed to win only 23 and Janasena – one seat.