Kadapa bypolls, scheduled for 8 May, are going to take place amidst unprecedented security. Like never before, the Election Commission has decided to deploy 10,000 security personnel for the Kadapa Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled for May 8. Pulivendula assembly constituency under the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat is also going to the polls on the same day. Polling will take place on May 8 and the results are to be announced on May 13. The campaigning for the bypolls is slated to end at 5 pm on May 6.

The bypolls have become the first major challenge for the Congress and chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy ever since Y S Jaganmohan Reddy left the ruling party along with his mother and floated the YSR Congress with the specific aim of ending the Congress rule in the state. While Jagan is pitted against D L Ravindra Reddy (Congress) and M V Mysura Reddy (TDP) in Kadapa, his mother Vijayalakshmi is taking on her own brother-in-law Y S Vivekananda Reddy (Congress) and M Ravindranath Reddy (TDP) from Pulivendula. Perhaps keeping in view the high stakes involved in the bypolls, the authorities decided to deploy 10,000 security personnel for the bypolls.

The Election Commission sources justified the large security deployment for the Kadapa bypolls on the grounds that the major political parties in the fray are themselves demanding the same. A Congress delegation met CEO Bhanwar Lal here on Wednesday and urged him to provide additional security forces in the volatile Jammalamadugu and Pulivendula Assembly segments of Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency on the charge that the YSR Congress is out to indulge in massive rigging. The delegation also complained that the security personnel presence is needed in the Muslim areas in these two assembly segments who could be terrorised into voting for a certain party. The Congress leaders referred to incidents of violence in Lingala and Simhadripuram mandals in the last few days and claimed this was done to terrorise the voters.

Actually the Election Commission had sought 40 companies of central forces but in view of the ongoing elections in five states, the Union home ministry could provide the state only 17 companies. These forces will be deployed in the sensitive and hypersensitive polling stations in both Kadapa and Pulivendula. Of the total 1,512 polling stations in Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, over 1266 polling stations have been labelled as sensitive, hyper sensitive and problematic.