TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, CPI Deputy General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy, Union Ministers Jaipal Reddy and Renuka Chaudhary are among the prominent Lok Sabha candidates whose fate will be decided in the first phase of elections in Andhra Pradesh on April 16.

The TRS president, who won from Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat in 2004 general elections and thrust by polls on the constituency twice in 2006 and 2008, is now contesting from Mahabubnagar seat.

Rao has shifted to Mahabubnagar as he no longer consider Karimnagar to be a safe bet for him, where he is being challenged by sitting Congress MP D Vithal Rao and BJP candidate K Yadagiri Reddy, sources said.

Mahabubnagar is considered one the most backward districts in the country, with as many as three lakh people having migrated from the area in 2005 in search of work.

The soft-spoken CPI deputy general secretary Reddy is seeking re-election from his traditional Nalgonda constituency. The Congress nominee in the constituency is G Sukhender Reddy, a senior TDP leader who switched sides after being denied ticket to contest the Lok Sabha seat.

Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who represented Miryalguda in the outgoing Lok Sabha, is seeking election from the newly-created Chevella seat, as his constituency had been scrapped in the delimitation excercise.

Even before he could launch his campaign in Chevella, Reddy had to deal with the stiff opposition from a section of his partymen who alleged that he is an "outsider".

Reddy's main rivals are A P Jitendra Reddy of TDP and BJP's Baddam Bal Reddy, who is putting up a strong fight as he enjoys a good support in some of the assembly segments under Chevella.

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