VIJAYAWADA: The ruling YSRC has continued its winning streak in the second phase of local polls with candidates supported by the party bagging 80 per cent of gram panchayats, including those in TDP bastions and Assembly constituencies represented by the Opposition party bigwigs earlier. In some of the constituencies where the TDP won in the Assembly elections too, the YSRC swept the panchayat elections.
Not just bagging majority seats in TDP bastions, the ruling YSRC proved its supremacy over the opposition Telugu Desam in the constituencies represented by its leaders.
“We have maintained our winning streak in the second phase too and won 80 per cent of gram panchayats that either went to polls or where the elections were unanimous,” YSRC general secretary and Government Advisor (Political Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said. Of the total 3,325 panchayats, which went to polls (including those where polls were unanimous), the party supporters, sympathisers and rebels won 2,649 seats, leaving the main opposition TDP far behind at 538. The Jana Sena Party got 35 seats, BJP another five, while others won 98 panchayats, he said.
“This reflects the overwhelming response and support from the people to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s governance and we will continue the trend in the next phases too. We (our party supporters) may even get more panchayats in the next phases of elections,’’ he said confidently.
Sajjala said the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is extending schemes and benefits in saturation mode and this has left a great impact on the people, who have acknowledged the same by giving their mandate to the YSRC in the elections.While the panchayat election results are an indication of the increasing support of the people to the ruling YSRC, the Opposition TDP, with the support of its friendly media, is propagating distorted facts and fudged figures, he alleged.
Sajjala said the party proved the authenticity of the first phase election figures by posting photos of YSRC supporters who won the elections, on a special website ysrcpolls.in.
“We will also upload the photos of the YSRC supported candidates, who won the elections in the second phase, in a couple of days,” he said and added that the TDP was even trying to hoodwink the people by bringing out a fake website akin to their website and posting its own version of the results without any authentication.
“We have already lodged a complaint with the CID cyber cell against the fake website,’’ he said.
Apart from this, the TDP had also resorted to cheap tricks by spreading lies about the YSRC supported candidate losing in Civil Supplies Minister Kodali Nani’s hometown.
Coming to the election results of panchayats in the TDP bastions, Sajjala said in Raptadu, the constituency once represented by former minister Paritala Sunitha, the YSRC supported candidates won 45 out of 58 panchayats, while the TDP managed to bag just 12.
Opposition Leader and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, however, put up a brave face and claimed that the party backed candidates won 39.52 per cent of panchayat seats in the second phase of elections.
2,649 seats won
Of total 3,325 panchayats, which went to elections (including unanimous ones), the YSRC-backed candidates and rebels won 2,649 seats, leaving opposition TDP far behind at 538.