Visakhapatnam AP Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Voting date, results, candidates, main parties, and schedule

Andra Pradesh Lok Sabha Election 2024 - File photo: CM Jagan Mohan Reddy with Narendra Modi (Photo: PTI)

Visakhapatnam, often referred to as Vizag, is one of Andhra Pradesh's significant Lok Sabha constituencies and boasts a substantial electorate of approximately 18 lakh voters as per the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. It comprises seven assembly segments, including Srungavarapukota, Bheemili, Visakhapatnam East, Visakhapatnam South, Visakhapatnam North, Visakhapatnam West, and Gajuwaka. The constituency is a general seat and not reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Visakhapatnam holds significance as a battleground between the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which has gained momentum through alliances with the Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

For this year’s Lok Sabha elections, YSRCP has replaced its sitting Member of Parliament (MP) P M V V Satyanarayana with Dr. Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi, a former Vizianagaram MP and wife of Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana.

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The TDP has nominated Mathukumilli Sribharat, chairman of GITAM institutions and son-in-law of actor and TDP Member of Legislative Assembly N Balakrishna, while the Congress has fielded film producer P Satyanarayana Reddy.

Established in 1952, the constituency was represented by the Congressmen five times, and then thrice by the TDP. Meanwhile, the BJP and YSRCP have won the seat once each.

Until 2009, the Congress had dominated the region, with the TDP as its primary competitor. However, the political landscape shifted with the BJP's victory in 2014 and the YSRCP's subsequent win in 2019, marking a transformative phase in Visakhapatnam's electoral history.

In the 2019 elections, YSRCP's M V V Satyanarayana defeated TDP’s Mathukumilli Bharat by a slim margin.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, BJP leader Kambhampati Hari Babu won the seat for the first time.

Voting in Visakhapatnam is due on May 13.