Bapatla (SC) Lok Sabha constituency

Bapatla (SC) is one of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. Since the Lok Sabha election of 1977, Congress has won here on six occasions while TDP has secured wins five times.

Bapatla became an SC reserved seat just before the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, TDP's Maluadri Sriram secured 578,145 (48.80 per cent) votes to defeat YSRCP's Varikuti Amruthapani. At 85.16 per cent, the voter turnout here was one of the highest in the state which had an overall voter turnout of 74.47 per cent.

The constituency has a population of over 13 lakh with a gender ratio in favour of females - 50.71 per cent.

There are some media reports which claim that there is unrest among people belonging to the SC category here who feel that the leaders of political parties have largely ignored their interests and welfare. They also reportedly feel their MPs over the years have not been able to completely address their needs.

Political parties would be keen to assure that all concerns are not just heard but are addressed timely and effectively.