YS Sharmila to tour Kadapa today, likely to announce first list of candidates for elections

YS Sharmila, the chief of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Party (APPC), is set to visit Kadapa district today to announce the list of candidates for the upcoming elections. She will begin her day by offering special prayers at her father's YS Rajasekhar Reddy Ghat in Idupulapaya before releasing the names of the candidates, with Sharmila herself confirmed as the Kadapa MP candidate.

In the evening, Sharmila will participate in an Iftar dinner and other events in Kadapa. It is reported that the Congress Party's Central Election Committee (CEC) has finalized the candidates for five Lok Sabha seats and 114 assembly seats in the state, including Kadapa. The list of candidates will be made public on Tuesday in Idupulapaya.

The CEC meeting, held at the AICC headquarters in Delhi on Monday, was attended by top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge, general secretary KC Venugopal, state affairs in-charge Manickam Tagore, and AICC ST STcell chairman Koppula Raju.

Sharmila is expected to contest from the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, with other candidates including Rajahmundry-Gidugu Rudraraju, Visakha-Satya Reddy, Kakinada-MM Pallamraju, and JD Seelam from Bapatla. Former PCC president Raghuveera Reddy is reportedly not in the election fray. The remaining positions are being kept pending in anticipation of an agreement with the Communist parties.

Sharmila's visit to Kadapa district today marks the announcement of the first list of Congress candidates for the upcoming elections.