Jagan to contest for assembly, Vijayamma for Lok Sabha (Lead with correction in ninth para)

YSR Congress party's president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy will contest the assembly election from Pulivendula while his mother and honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma will fight for the Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam.

Jaganmohan Reddy's uncle and cousin also figured in the list of candidates announced by the party Monday for parliamentary elections in Seemandhra or residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

Vijayamma, Y.S. Avinash Reddy and Y.V. Subba Reddy were among 24 candidates announced by the party for May 7 elections. The party also declared names of 170 candidates for assembly elections.

Jaganmohan Reddy, who eyes the post of chief minister in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, will contest assembly election from Pulivendula in his home district Kadapa.

Vijayamma was elected unopposed to Andhra Pradesh assembly as Congress candidate from Pulivendula in the by-elections in December 2009 following the death of her husband and then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, a few months after he led the Congress to second successive term in power.

Vijayamma was elected by over 85,000 votes from Pulivendula in the 2011 by-polls caused by her resignation following the formation of YSR Congress party by her son. Pulivendula is considered a family stronghold. YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known, was elected six times from this constituency.

YSR Congress chief turned down strong requests from the party cadres to field his sister Sharmila, who is campaigning for the party. Party spokesperson Vasireddy Padma, however, said Sharmila had already made it clear that she would not contest the polls.

Jaganmohan Reddy's cousin Y.S. Avinash Reddy will contest for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, currently held by the party chief. Avinash Reddy is son of Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy, brother of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Jagan, as the young leader is popularly known, had retained Kadapa seat by a record margin of over five lakh votes in 2011 by-polls.

The 41-year-old businessman-politician was first elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 from Kadapa, a family bastion. YSR had won the seat thrice while his brother Y.S. Viveknanda Reddy represented it twice.

Jagan has named his maternal uncle Y.V. Subba Reddy as the party candidate from Ongole parliamentary constituency. Subba Reddy, husband of Vijayamma's sister, played a key role in running the party when Jagan was in jail for 16 months in quid-pro-quo investment case.

The YSR Congress has retained sitting MP from Nellore, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy. Nandyal MP S.P.Y. Reddy, who quit Congress and joined YSR Congress in February this year, will seek re-election. Similarly, the party has fielded sitting MP from Anantapur Ananta Venkatarami Reddy, who quit the Congress recently.

Former state minister P. Viswaroop, who also quit the Congress to cross over to the YSR Congress, is the candidate from Amalapuram. The party has another former minster Partha Saradhi from Machilipatnam.

The YSR Congress has not announced candidates for one Lok Sabha and five assembly seats and the same may be allotted to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in case of an electoral understanding.