Amaravati: Eight candidates who are in the fray for the forthcoming General and State elections are descendants of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers. Among whom, six sons of former CMs are contesting for the Assembly polls and two daughters of ex-CMs are candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
The sons of the six former CMs are YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Nara Lokesh, N Balakrishna, N Manohar, N Ramkumar Reddy and K Surya Prakash Reddy while the two daughters are Sharmila and Purandeswari.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, contesting from Pulivendula constituency is son of former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
Rajasekhar Reddy had represented the Pulivendula seat, a YSR family bastion, for six terms between 1978 and 2009. He died in a chopper crash on September 2, 2009, shortly after assuming the role of the chief minister for a second time.
Next, Nara Lokesh, son of three-time CM and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, is contesting for a second term after his first attempt from Mangalagiri in 2019 failed. This time, Lokesh is up against YSRCP's M Lavanya.
Lokesh is also the grandson of former CM and Tollywood legend N T Rama Rao (NTR), who founded the TDP in 1982.
Tollywood actor and sitting Hindupur MLA, N Balakrishna, son of NTR, is contesting from the same constituency, which is considered to be a stronghold of NTR family. Balakrishna had won this seat in 2014 and 2019 and is now aiming for a hattrick. Earlier, this seat was represented by Rama Rao and his elder son N Harikrishna.
Janasena leader N Manohar, son of former CM N Bhaskar Rao is fighting on behalf of NDA from Tenali constituency. NDA comprises TDP, Janasena and BJP.
N Ramkumar Reddy, son of former CM N Janardhan Reddy, is contesting from Venkatagiri constituency as YSRCP candidate.
K Surya Prakash Reddy, son of former CM K Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy is a TDP candidate from the Dhone segment.
Coming to the daughters who are in the fray includes PCC chief Sharmila, whose father is former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy, who is contesting from Kadapa Loksabha constituency. She is also the sister of CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The second contestant is BJP's state president Purandeswari, who is contesting from Rajamahendravaram Lok Sabha constituency. She is the daughter of former CM NTR and sister of Balakrishna.
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