Southern states play a decisive role in the formation of the government at the Centre. The states of Telangana (17 seats), Andhra Pradesh (25 seats), Karnataka (28 seats), Tamil Nadu (39 seats), and Kerala (20 seats) bring a large chunk to the Lok Sabha and leaders across party lines have been working tirelessly to reap the benefits.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s TRS Party is likely to win by a huge margin over other parties in the state. Out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats, three constituencies including Hyderabad, Nizamabad and Khammam are being closely watched due to their political importance and unpredictable nature.
Over the years, Hyderabad has become a pocket borough of the Owaisis. Back in 1984 Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi first won the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. Till then the voters would more or less vote for the Congress. After 1984 it has been the Owaisis all the way. Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking re-election from this constituency.
Nizamabad has become a cynosure of all eyes with large number of candidates in the fray necessitating deployment of as many as 12 EVMs in each booth. In the field are as many as 185 candidates, including 178 farmers who jumped into the fray to support their demand for remunerative price for turmeric and red sorghum. KCR's daughter K Kavitha is seeking re-election from here.
Khammam Lok Sabha seat is set to witness an intense contest where Congress leader Renuka Chowdary took on former MP Nama Nageswara Rao, who switched loyalties from the TDP to the TRS little ahead of the elections.