For Pawan Kalyan, it’s the first election he is fighting in his capacity as the president of a political party. He thought of springing surprises with his alliance with Mayawati and the Left. But it was not enough so far as the minuscule impact they left in election campaign. As a result, his own Kapu community is deciding to prefer the best among the two main contending parties in most segments.

For Jaganmohan Reddy, this is the second election in his hot pursuit of his life’s goal to become the chief minister. He has got a little experience but it is a big question whether YSR’s son has learnt any lessons from his defeat in 2014 poll. More doubts are raised now over his abilities to counter rivals as he made many self goals right from the start of the election campaign.

For CM Chandrababu Naidu, he has got the undisputed advantage of four decades of political and electoral experience. He has also got an abiding image as an efficient crisis manager, a good trouble shooter and an able administrator. It’s clear it’s a a battle between unequals. At the beginning of election campaign, it appeared a tight fight as PM Modi and CM KCR along with the Election Commission gave total support to the YCP. But as the campaign came to an end almost, questions are being raised whether the younger players gave up their hands in helplessness in front of the experienced, battle-hardened Naidu.