Ms. Vijayalakshmi, widow of former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and popularly known as Vijayamma retained her Pulivendula Assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh by a record-breaking majority of 85,191 votes after completion of counting in Kadapa on Friday.
The magnitude of her victory was so huge that all the remaining 24 candidates, including those of the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party, forfeited their security deposits.
Ms. Vijayamma polled 1,14,198 votes, way ahead of her nearest Congress rival and brother-in-law Y. S. Vivekananda Reddy who could secure 28,686 votes. The TDP candidate M. Ravindranath Reddy came a poor third with 11,752 votes.
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This is the highest ever majority in Pulivendula constituency exceeding the margin of 68,681 votes secured by YSR in 2009. YSR went on to become Chief Minister for a second consecutive term after winning this seat in May 2009 over his nearest TDP rival S. V. Satish Kumar Reddy. YSR polled 1,03,556 votes in 2009, about 11,000 votes less than what his wife secured now.