YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's uncle loses Andhra legislative council polls

Vijayawada: In a major blow to opposition YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, its leader YS Vivekananda Reddy was defeated by the ruling TDP candidate in the state legislative council elections.

Vivekananda Reddy, uncle of YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy, lost to B. Ravi of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) by 34 votes in Local Authorities Constituency in Kadapa.

This is the first electoral win for the TDP in Kadapa, the stronghold of late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy`s family.

Vivekananda Reddy, younger brother of Rajasekhara Reddy, was elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa constituency, twice to the state assembly from Pulivendula, and once to the state legislative council from Kadapa Local Authorities Constituency (LAC).

His defeat came as a big shock to the main opposition party and especially to the YSR family.

The TDP had clean sweep in the legislative council polls, winning all nine seats at stake from the LACs. 

The ruling party, which won six seats unanimously, was locked in a contest with the YSR Congress in Kadapa, Kurnool and Nellore, the districts where the opposition party has considerable number of local public representatives.

The elections for three seats were held on March 17 and the counting was taken up on Monday.

In Kurnool, the TDP`s district party President and sitting legislative council member Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy defeated the YSR Congress` Gouru Venkat Reddy by 56 votes.

In Nellore, the TDP`s sitting legislative council member Vakati Narayana Reddy trounced Anam Vijay Kumar Reddy of the YSR Congress by 87 votes.

Celebrations broke out in the TDP circles. TDP leaders congratulated party`s national president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

The TDP`s Andhra Pradesh unit President Kala Venkat Rao said the results reflect the functioning of the TDP government. He remarked that Kadapa got "independence" with the TDP`s victory and said the district would now march on the path of progress.

Jaganmohan Reddy alleged that Chandrababu Naidu resorted to undemocratic means of "buying" local public representatives to win the legislative council polls. 

He recalled that Naidu was caught red-handed while "buying" an assembly member`s vote in the legislative council elections in Telangana in 2015.