High-stake bypolls for main parties in AP

The by-elections are being held in a politically surcharged atmosphere with most parties taking the exercise as a dry run for the next assembly polls due in 2014.

All the parties have already completed one round of campaigning in all the constituencies.

Only Parakal assembly segment in Warangal district is in Telangana region while all others are in Andhra-Rayalaseema.

As things stand today, Jagan's party is the favourite to win a majority of the seats while ruling Congress and main opposition Telugu Desam Party have to slug it out for securing at least the second place.

Current trends indicate that TDP is emerging as the front-runner in at least three Assembly constituencies while Congress may fancy its chances in only a couple of seats.

That's the only silver lining, as of now, for Congress which was being virtually written off in the run-up to the polls with too many negative factors going against it.

If Jagan is arrested in the disproportionate assets case, it is likely to have a bearing on the by-elections.

Congress is not ready to regard the by-elections as a possible game-changer or as a "referendum" on its rule and is treating it only as yet another election.

In Parakal, the battle is essentially between Bharatiya Janata Party and Telangana Rashtra Samiti which are positioning themselves as the "real champions" of the statehood cause.

Following the drubbing it received at the hands of BJP in Mahbubnagar in the March by-election, TRS is jittery that a repeat performance in Parakal could push it to the sideline in the statehood movement and let BJP grab the lead.