In our series covering profiles of key constituencies for Lok Sabha elections, today we bring you a report on Tirupati, one of the key Lok Sabha constituencies of the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh. In Tirupati, the spiritual capital of the State, the main contest is between the ruling YSR Congress Party and the NDA coalition.
The Tirupati Loksabha Constituency had 7 Assembly segments with nearly 18 lakh voters with females outnumbering males by 40 thousand. Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party secured Tirupati Loksabha constituency once and YSR Congress Party won twice, the 2021 bye-election being the latest. In the 2019 General Elections, YSR Congress Party candidate, Balli Durga Prasad Rao stood victorious over Panabaka Lakshmi of Telugu Desam Party with a margin of over 2 lakh votes. With the demise of Durga Prasad Rao, Tirupati Loksabha constituency went for a by-poll in 2021 in which YSR Congress Party continued its success with its candidate Maddila Gurumurthy. In the 2024 General Election, there are 23 candidates in the fray, the main battle is between the YSR Congress Party and NDA.
YSR Congress Party re-nominated its sitting MP Maddila Gurumurthy.
As part of the NDA alliance, the BJP is on the run here with its candidate Velagapalli Vara Prasad Rao. Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to win the seat with his organisational experience and support from Telugu Desam and Janasena cadre. YSR Congress Party on the other hand is looking to continue its triumph with its welfare schemes in the State. The Election Commission is organising 2140 polling booths and aiming to achieve a polling percentage higher than the 64 per mark in the 2021 by-elections. Vote from Home and Postal Ballot voting have already been completed in this segment.
