Marthi Subrahmanyam
Vijayawada
Close on the heels of a major election victory in the three MLC Graduate constituencies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) registered another shocking win in the MLA quota MLC elections on Thursday.
The cross-voting by four YSRCP MLAs ensured the victory of TDP candidate Panchumarthi Anuradha in the MLA quota MLC elections. The TDP has 23 MLAs in the 175-member Assembly but 4 of them quit the party reducing the strength to 19.
Significantly, TDP candidate Anuradha polled 23 votes and she emerged victorious taking all by surprise. The victory in the MLA quota MLC elections has come as a shot in the arm to the TDP. Now, the YSRCP has started introspecting for the TDP candidates’ win.
A vigil was kept on 16 suspected YSRCP MLAs but four MLAs cross-voted. Two YSRCP MLAs Ramnarayana Reddy and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy announced that they would vote in the MLC elections as per their conscience. But the TDP got four votes. TDP a few days ago registered a landslide victory in East Andhra, North Andhra, and West Rayalaseema Graduate elections and today won the MLC election which infused a lot of confidence among the TDP cadre across the state. The jubilant TDP cadre were seen celebrating the victory in a big way.
TDP leaders said that Chandrababu Naidu’s political and polling strategies yielded results.
Meanwhile, the YSRCP is unable to digest the cross-voting of 4 of its members in favour of the TDP candidate. The rebelled YSRCP MLAs Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy announced that they would vote as per their consciousness. The YSRCP election team conducted mock polling in Murali Fortune hotel aiming to defeat the lone TDP candidate and also formed special teams to check cross-voting.
YSRCP candidates expressed doubt on the Assembly premises that their Tadikonda MLA Undavalli Sridevi, who was allocated to Kola Guruvulu in the election, did not vote for him. Moreover, Udayagiri YSRCP MLA Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, who was allocated to Prasada Raju, did not vote for him.
The MLC election results have given a big jolt to the ruling YSRCP while they have come as a morale booster to the TDP which has been struggling for a major election victory for the last four years.
“The MLC election results really set back the YSRCP. We have to analyse where mistakes were committed which have gone wrong. Though Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy personally interfered and guided the leaders, the party suffered an unexpected defeat,” a senior YSRCP leader admitted. Moreover, the MLC election results would encourage some more MLAs to revolt against the party, a YSRCP leader feared.
YSRCP sources said that the YSRCP leadership has laid vigil on 16 MLAs and is monitoring their actions. The defeat in the MLA quota MLC elections came like rubbing salt in the wound, a YSRCP leader felt, adding that all needed remedial measures would be taken to ensure that such a thing would not recur in the future. According to reliable sources, eight YSRCP MLAs secretly met Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad recently and got assurance from them on allocating tickets to contest in the 2024 elections.
