107 contest for Assembly seats

Nellore: Finally, 13 candidates for Nellore Lok Sabha segment and 107 candidates for 10 Assembly segments are in the fray in the district after withdrawal of nominations. According to the District Election Officer, Udayagiri and Atmakur constituencies are having maximum number of candidates and Kovur is having the least number of candidates. 12 candidates are in the fray for Tirupati SC (Reserved) LS segment.

Candidates from both ruling and opposition parties fielded their candidates and this time tough fight is predicted by political analysts. The Jana Sena also fielded Chandra Rajagopal, District Secretary of CPM as their LS candidate from Nellore as part of political tie-up.There are 10 Assembly segments and they are part of both LS seats of Nellore and Tirupati.

Sullurpet and Gudur constituencies fall under the Tirupati reserved (SC) category and Kandukur segment in Prakasam district is part of Nellore LS seat. Now, leaders in the district, who are contesting for Nellore LS seat have also to visit Kandukur Assembly segment for impressing upon voters along with other constituency candidates in Nellore.

Still, candidates are organising polls campaign peacefully. As usual, parties like Pyramid Party of India, and others also filed their nominations. Now, leaders are busy inviting people from other parties and the party offices are busy with such jumping leaders.

Interestingly, fishermen areas are crucial for every election as there is system of Durai (internal democracy that governs voting pattern and others) for forcing voters to franchise to a particular candidate, who assures something they desire. Though there is an independent democratic system in the country, these population are normally dominated by three-member Kapu leaders where there is no role for women.

Still, local leaders have not touched these areas for appealing voters for their support in the ensuing elections. Ruling TDP has strong vote bank in these areas and analysts say they contact these leaders just before elections.

Due to hectic election schedule, candidates are in a hurry to contact the voters personally. "This time leaders are having insufficient time to meet the voters as the ECI fixed polling date in the first phase of elections in the State. So, they are finding no time to visit all places and they are pinning hopes on party influence and hence they were focusing only on untouched areas," said K Rama Krishna, a political analyst from Nellore.

Further, local traders say there is a huge demand for silver, gold articles in a range of Rs 2,000-3,000 for reportedly distributing them to the voters. Aides of leaders are purchasing in huge quantity keeping in view of demand during election time. They are planning to distribute them through locally popular SHG members or leaders who can manage voters by virtue of their contacts, they say.