Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh):
It is like a family soap opera in the two by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly seats. Jaganmohan Reddy, son of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, is contesting for the Kadapa seat.
Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, is locked in an intense battle with the Congress for the high-profile election, a situation caused by his resignation as MP from the seat after a bitter parting of ways with his father's party in November last year.
Jagan is fighting these elections on YSR Congress Party ticket which he setup soon after parting ways with Congress.
Over 36 per cent polling was recorded in Kadapa till noon, which remained largely peaceful, polling officials said. The polling percentage in Pulivendula Assembly constituency was 34.66 per cent, officials added.
Congress MLA from Kamalapuram, G Veerasiva Reddy, was put under house arrest following a complaint by Jaganmohan Reddy.
Polling began at 8 am today for the by-election amid tight security. There are 13.29 lakh voters in Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency and 1.89 lakh in Pulivendula Assembly segment.
About 12,000 policemen have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the polling process. Among the over 1,500 polling stations in Kadapa, 584 have been identified as sensitive, 187 as hyper sensitive and 487 as troublesome, the sources said.
Significantly, the polling is also being webcast to ensure transparency.
Jagan's mother, Vijayalakshmi, is also taking on the Congress in Pulivendula.
Interestingly, she is pitted against her brother-in-law, YSR's younger brother Vivekananda Reddy, who fell out with the family and stayed with the Congress.
When asked about his electoral battle against Vijayalakshmi, Mr Reddy said, "It is almost certain that I am winning these elections."
He also dismissed family consideration saying, "Family is not at all a concern in elections."
Vijayalakshmi too had quit the party with her son after representing the seat as an MLA for about a year following the death of her husband.
For the mother-son duo, it's a high-stakes battle.
But this electoral battle is not without its share of bickering. Speaking to NDTV, Jagan accused the Congress of influencing the voters with money. He further blamed the party of creating a rift within his family.
"Sonia Gandhi has to answer for causing division in the YSR family", he said.
The Congress' reputation too is stake as both Kadapa and Pulivendula have remained in its kitty for years, thanks to YSR.
Jagan had earlier swept the Kadapa seat with a margin of 1.79 lakh seats after it fell vacant following the death of his father YSR in a chopper crash in 2009. The young MP, then, clearly rode on a massive wave of sympathy for his immensely-popular father.
Hence, today's elections will be an acid test for Jagan to determine whether he can survive without the party that his father was fiercely loyal to and served for so many years.
(With PTI inputs)