TDP flag flies high after 10 years

It along with BJP wins 12 Assembly and two LS seats in Visakhapatnam district. TDP regained its control over the district after a gap of 10 years. Its senior leaders Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu and Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy were winners again.

The Telugu Desam and BJP combine won two Lok Sabha seats and 12 Assembly constituencies while the YSR Congress claimed one Lok Sabha constituency, part of which falls in the district, and three Assembly segments in Visakhapatnam district in the May 2014 general elections.

BJP’s State president K. Haribabu defeated YSRC honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma by more than 90,000 votes in Visakahpatnam while M. Srinivasa Rao of the TDP defeated G. Amarnath of the YSRC by more than 47,000 votes in Anakapalle. YSRC’s Kothapalli Geetha won the Araku Lok Sabha seat. The Congress was nowhere in the picture and each of its candidates polled only a few thousand votes.

TDP regained its control over the district after a gap of 10 years. Its senior leaders Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu and Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy were winners again. Mr. Ayyanna Patrudu defeated Petla Umashankar Ganesh of YSRC from Narsipatnam by around 2,500 votes in a see-saw battle in Narsipatnam while Mr. Satyanarayana Murthy defeated YSRC’s Gandhi Babji by about 19,000 votes.

TDP, which lost Payakaraopeta to the Congress in 2009 after winning its since the inception of the party, regained the seat with Ms. V. Anitha pipping Ch. Venkata Rao to the post by around 3,200 votes.

TDP’s district unit president G. Ramanaidu and sitting MLA was the only party candidate in the plain area failing to win. He lost to YSRC’s Boodi Mutyalanaidu by 3,000 votes.

Sitting MLA V. Ramakrishna Babu of Visakha East won with a huge margin of 48,000 votes while city unit president V. Ganesh Kumar surprised everyone by winning from Visakha South by 18,000 votes over YSRC candidate Kola Guruvulu. Former MLA P.V.G.R. Naidu (Ganababu) won from Visakha West by 25,000 votes; Palla Srinivasa Rao won from Gajuwaka with a margin of nearly 25,000 votes; former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao trounced his YSRC rival by 32,000 votes at Bheemunipatnam and at Anakapalle Peela Govinda Satyanarayana defeated YSRC’s Konathala Raghunath by 25,000 votes.

BJP’s P. Vishnukumar Raju made a successful debut into politics by winning Visakha North by a margin of more than 16,000 votes.

YSRC was unstoppable in the Visakha Agency. Former MLC K. Sarveswara Rao defeated sitting MLA Siveri Soma by 25,000 votes at Araku Valley. Former MLA of Paderu Lake Raja Rao was also a contestant here. Former teacher Giddi Eswari of YSRC won from Paderu with a margin of 32,000 votes defeating former Minister P. Balaraju and CPI’s former MLA G. Demudu. BJP candidate was also in fray here.