Visakhapatnam: The Left parties ( CPI and CPM ) are marginal players in north Andhra politics. But this time they are hoping to win at least two assembly seats, thanks to their alliance with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena The Left parties have put up candidates in five assembly seats in north Andhra region as part of their alliance with Jana Sena and Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP ). CPM will be contesting in Araku valley (ST) and Kurupam (ST). While Killo Surendra has been fielded from Araku, Kolika Avinash will contest from Kurupam. The CPI candidates are JV Satyanarayana Murthy (Visakha West), DVG Shankara Rao from Palakonda (SC) in Srikakulam district, and P Kameswara Rao from S Kota in Vizianagaram district.Out of the five, they are hopeful of winning in Araku and Visakha West assembly segments. “We failed to open our account in 2014. This time we are confident of winning in Araku valley as Killo Surendra is quite popular in the area and has been working at the grass-roots level since long,” Ch Narasinga Rao, CPM state secretariat member, said.The other candidates from Araku are TDP’s Kidari Shravan Kumar — who got the chance after his father and sitting MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao was gunned down by Maoists last year — and YSRC’s Setti Palguna. “Both of them belong to the Valmiki tribe, while Killo Surendra is from the Kotia tribe, which will get him support from Konda Dora, Kotia and other tribes in the area,” he added.Araku valley constituency, with a total 2,16,487 voters, is dominated by four tribal groups — Konda Dora (70,000 voters), Bhagata (35,000), Valmiki (15,000) and Kotias (12,000). However, the settlers including traders, contractors and others constitute about 50,000, and they could play a key role in deciding the final outcome. Konda Doras have traditionally been Left supporters, while the popularity of actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan is expected to be a crucial factor too.“People are unhappy with both TDP and YSRC in Visakha West segment. The CPI has a good chance to win. The constituency has a rare mix of poor and affluent. Also, people here speak different languages due to the presence of several big industries,” said Satyanarayana Murthy, the CPI candidate, who is also an assistant secretary of the party in the state.TDP has fielded its sitting MLA PVGR Naidu (Ganababu), while YSRC has put up Malla Vijaya Prasad, a former MLA who is also the city president of the party. The BJP has fielded Chandrasekhar Buddha. The constituency, with a total 2,11,373 voters, include around 38,000 north Indians, who will play a key role in deciding the fate of the candidates in the segment.

Stay updated with all the Latest Visakhapatnam headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.