Continuing its victory march, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) bagged 422 Mandal Praja Parishads (MPP) out of the 653 in the indirect elections that were held in the State on Friday. The ruling party secured unassailable leads in 11 out of the 13 districts, confining the main Opposition YSR Congress to Kadapa and Nellore districts.
The elections were marred by stray incidents of violence in Krishna, Guntur and Anantapur districts, forcing authorities to defer the poll to Saturday at few places. According to reports reaching here, elections in 28 MPPs had been deferred due to various reasons.
The TDP’s domination continued in East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Anantapur districts. This was reflected in the number of mandal parishads won by the TDP, while the YSRC remained a distant second in these districts.
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In East Godavari, the TDP bagged the 44 MPPs and the YSRC only 11. Same was the case with Anantapur, where the TDP won 53 MPPs while the YSRC could manage only 10. In West Godavari, the ruling party bagged as many as 42 of the total 45 MPPs.
The YSRC, however, showed its sway in Kadapa where it secured 27 of the 43 MPPs. The YSRC also put up an impressive fight in Chittoor -- Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s native district -- bagging 23 MPPs against the TDP’s tally of 36. It was YSRC’s show in Nellore, where it bagged 25 of the 44 MPPs, while the contest was keen in Kurnool where the TDP bagged 29 and the YSRC 22.
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It was touch and go in Prakasam, where the YSRC putting up a tough fight secured 23 MPPs as against the ruling party’s 27. The Congress drew a blank in all the 13 districts, while former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Jai Samaikyandhra party managed two MPPs in Chittoor district.