Overview

• With no nominations withdrawn by the Aug. 25 deadline, NDA’s C. P. Radhakrishnan and the INDIA bloc’s B. Sudershan Reddy will face off in a secret-ballot vote on Sept. 9.
• Returning Officer P. C. Mody confirmed polling in Parliament House from 10 am to 5 pm with counting at 6 pm the same day and results to follow immediately.
• Reddy kicked off campaigning in Lucknow, met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders, appealed for conscience votes, and noted outreach beyond the INDIA bloc after recent meetings with Arvind Kejriwal and M. K. Stalin.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah renewed criticism over the Salwa Judum verdict, and villagers from Sukma and Bastar released a letter opposing Reddy, while Reddy said the Supreme Court judgment speaks for itself and declined to trade barbs.
• Media tallies continue to cite an NDA numerical advantage in the 782-member electoral college, though both sides frame the race as a test of constitutional values with two southern leaders vying to succeed the recently resigned Jagdeep Dhankhar.