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The Print
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Payback time for TDP: Naidu's party breaches Jagan's Pulivendula, YSRCP candidate loses deposit
The YSRCP has alleged massive scale abuse of power and police, restrictions, detention of its leaders, including Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy, vote rigging and other malpractices on the polling day, but the election result is still seen as a big blow to party chief and former CM Jaganmohan Reddy in his citadel Pulivendula, a constituency he represents in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. In the by-polls held to the Pulivendula Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) seat Tuesday, necessitated by the sitting YSRCP member Maheshwara Reddy's death, TDP candidate Latha Reddy won by a majority of ove 6,000 votes, thus denying Maheshwara's son and YSRCP candidate Hemanth even his deposit amount. Hyderabad: For the ruling TDP, trounced and humiliated in none other than their party supremo Chandrababu Naidu's bastion Kuppam in the local body polls four years back, the opportunity to pay back came a year in advance. Earlier, his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy was the MLA and the undisputed leader of the sector in Rayalaseema. The opposition party lost the neighbouring Ontimitta ZPTC seat too, which is also in the YSR family turf Kadapa. Polls at Ontimitta, famous for its 16th century Lord Kodandarama temple, were held as the sitting YSRCP member and Kadapa ZPTC chairman Amarnath Reddy was elected to the assembly from Rajampeta in 2024. The loss of the two local seats, comes after the massive setback Jagan faced in his stronghold Kadapa in the 2024 polls when the YSRCP assembly tally fell from 10 out of 10 constituencies in the erstwhile combined district to three. The party's total count in the assembly at present is an abysmal 11 out of 175. Still, YSRCP will continue to dominate the Kadapa ZPTC as even after losing the two bypolls, Jagan's party has 48 of the 50 seats. Nevertheless, the TDP is celebrating the Pulivendula victory and Jagan's chagrin, with party scion Nara Lokesh terming the outcome as #FreedomAfter30Years. The TDP claims that since 1995, elections were always unanimous because of the influence of the YSR family, in favour of Congress during YSR's time and the YSRCP later on. 'For the first time in 30 years, Pulivendula has taken part in a truly democratic election process and the people have had the chance to cast their vote freely. Congratulations to Latha Reddy and Krishna Reddy on their well-earned victory. My heartfelt thanks to the people for turning out in large numbers to support our candidates,' Lokesh said in a social media post 14 August as the results were declared. #FreedomAfter30Years The people of #Pulivendula and #Ontimitta have chosen progress over backwardness! For the first time in 30 years, Pulivendula has taken part in a truly democratic election process and the people have had the chance to cast their vote freely. Congratulations… — Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) August 14, 2025 A day before the results, on 13 August, Jagan demanded fresh elections under the supervision of central forces and in a fair manner, as he defined polls held to Pulivendula and Ontimitta ZPTCs on 12 August as 'just a mockery of democracy'. Speaking to reporters at Tadepalli, the YSRCP chief described the election as the most atrocious and undemocratic, and that 'Chandrababu Naidu has set in a very bad precedent, dangerous to democracy'. 'The spirit of elections is lost by such nefarious deeds as they were held under the cover and shield of the police, who acted as TDP agents, with outsiders taking over the booths and resorting to large-scale rigging. For about 10,600 votes in 15 booths, a posse of 700 policemen was deployed not to ensure peaceful elections but to terrorise voters, and the jumbling method employed by shifting polling booths was only to threaten voters midway or send them back,' accused Jagan, adding that even YSRCP polling agents were not allowed into booths and 'their authorisation forms were snatched and torn'. Referring to the Congress and Rahul Gandhi's campaign against SIR in Bihar, Jagan quipped: 'What happened at Pulivendula and Ontimitta is the real vote chori'' Throwback to Kuppam: 'Murder of democracy' YSRCP's charges of 'large-scale bogus voting, murder of democracy' in Pulivendula are the same as those levelled by TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu four years ago when he was mortified by the then ruling party breaching his bastion Kuppam. The ruling YSRCP had swept the 2021 ZPTC and MPTC polls, even trouncing the TDP in Kuppam, the assembly constituency represented by Naidu since 1989. In the polls held to several urban local bodies that year in November, the TDP was defeated in Kuppam municipality too, with YSRCP winning 19 out of 25 wards there. Naidu had then accused the ruling YSRCP of deploying bogus voters to subvert people's mandate in Kuppam and other civic bodies. The then opposition leader even charged Chief Minister Reddy and his partymen of 'committing midnight murder of democracy by getting the TDP polling agents and leaders arrested hours before the election by the police, who have become unprincipled under the present regime'. On Thursday, former minister Perni Venkateswara Rao alleged that non-local TDP workers were allowed to vote even in the presence of district collector Cherukuri Sridhar, 'which defines the conduct of by-polls and the sanctity of democracy'. 'Police were used as a shield to safeguard TDP interests, and there was no answer to Jagan Mohan Reddy's question on how voters from other areas were allowed to vote in the by-elections.' Calling the two ZPTC by-polls a dark day for democracy, YSRCP had boycotted the re-polling in two polling centres held on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed the YSRCP petition seeking a repoll in 15 polling centres under Pulivendula ZPTC and in 30 under Ontimitta, stating that it cannot interfere in the dominion of the state election commission. Speaking to ThePrint, Pulivendula candidate Hemanth questioned the legitimacy of victories claimed by the TDP, claiming that even he 'could not cast his own vote as the police behaved like private armies, besides the TDP gangs, and restricted him to his house'. YSRCP emphasised that despite filing 35 formal complaints, making 17 personal visits, and sending 18 emails regarding electoral violations, the State Election Commission had failed to act. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: Why CM Naidu wants Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act amended to insert the word Amaravati
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
It's freedom for people of Pulivendula after three decades, says Nara Lokesh
VIJAYAWADA: TDP leaders described the victory of the party in the Pulivendula and Vontimitta ZPTC byelections as a referendum to the one year effective rule of the NDA government. Particularly, with regard to winning the Pulivendula ZPTC bypoll, the TDP leaders said it is the victory of democracy as the people got the opportunity to exercise their franchise freely after three decades. With #FreedomAfter30Years, TDP national general secretary and Minister for HRD and IT posted on X, 'The people of #Pulivendula and #Ontimitta have chosen progress over backwardness! For the first time in 30 years, Pulivendula has taken part in a truly democratic election process and the people have had the chance to cast their vote freely. Congratulations to Latha Reddy and Krishna Reddy on their well-earned victory. My heartfelt thanks to the people for turning out in large numbers to support our candidates.' Minister for Energy Gottipati Ravi Kumar criticised YSRCP chief and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, stating that even his own Assembly constituency had lost trust in him. 'The Pulivendula ZPTC byelection result reflects the growing discontent among people against Jagan,' he observed. Speaking to mediapersons at the party headquarters in Mangalagiri on Thursday, TDP general secretary Varla Ramaiah said while the people of the State expelled the YSRCP and Jagan in the general elections, now people of Pulivendula rejected him.
Hans India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
TDP wrests Pulivendula ZPTC, makes dent in Jagan's fortress
Amaravati: In a huge setback to the YSR Congress Party, the Telugu Desam Party on Thursday wrested the Pulivendula ZPTC seat in the home constituency of former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The TDP won the by-election to Pulivendula Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) by a huge margin to make big inroads in Pulivendula, seen as the fortress of the YSR family. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was also leading in Ontimitta ZPTC as the counting of votes was underway amid the boycott by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which alleged rigging in the polling held on Tuesday and demanded a re-poll in both the constituencies. In Pulivendula, TDP candidate Latha Reddy defeated Hemanth Reddy of YSRCP by a margin of 6,035 votes. Latha Reddy, wife of former MLC and the ruling party's Pulivendula constituency in-charge, Mareddy Ravindra Reddy (B Tech Ravi), polled 6,716 votes while the YSRCP candidate secured only 683 votes. The candidate of Congress and eight independents secured fewer than 100 votes. About 74 per cent polling was recorded in Pulivendula ZPTC, which has 10,600 voters. The bypoll for Pulivendula ZPTC was necessitated by the death of ZPTC member T. Maheshwar Reddy of YSRCP. The opposition party had fielded his son, Hemanth Reddy. Polling was conducted for the first time in three decades as candidates backed by the YSR family have been winning the seat unanimously. The TDP-led NDA described the conduct of polling as "restoration of democracy". Minister for Backward Classes Welfare S. Savitha termed the TDP's win as a victory of democracy in Pulivendula. She said, "Pulivendula would celebrate Independence, just a day before Independence Day." She exuded confidence that the TDP would capture Jagan's fortress in the next Assembly elections. Pulivendula Assembly seat has been the pocket borough of the YSR family for nearly five decades. The family has never lost an election here since 1978, when Jagan's father and former Chief Minister Y. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) scored his first victory from here. In Ontimitta ZPTC, TDP was leading by a huge margin of over 3,000 votes. TDP's Muddu Krishna Reddy had polled 6,270 votes while YSRCP's Iragamreddy Subbareddy secured 3,165 votes. The constituency, which has 24,000 voters, witnessed 86 per cent polling. The bypoll for Ontimitta was necessitated as its member, Akepati Amarnath Reddy of YSRCP, resigned after winning the Rajampet Assembly election last year. Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. at Maulana Azad National Urdu University polytechnic in Kadapa town. As many as 100 officials, including 30 supervisors, 60 counting assistants and three assistant statistical officers, were deployed for counting. Alleging large-scale irregularities in the polling, YSRCP boycotted the counting. The YSRCP accused TDP of booth capturing, rigging and other electoral malpractices. It demanded the cancellation of the polling and the conduct of a re-poll. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday demanded fresh polling for the by-election to Pulivendula and Ontimitta ZPTCs under the supervision of Central forces and in a fair manner. He termed the polling held on August 12 a 'mockery of democracy'. He alleged that all polling agents of YSRCP were driven away along with the party sympathisers whose forms and slips were snatched and torn away. He also announced that YSRCP candidates will move the court seeking to cancel the elections.
