ONGOLE: The ruling YSRC won all the seven urban local bodies in Prakasam district, including Ongole Municipal Corporation (OMC) for which elections were held for the first time. Out of the total 197 wards in the district, the YSRC won 156, leaving just 24 to the TDP while the BJP-JSP combine could win just one seat. Interestingly, independents, most of them YSRC rebels, won 16 seats. The Congress, the BSP and the Left failed to open their account and most of their contestants lost their deposits.
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In the first ever elections to the OMC, after it was upgraded from municipality in January 2012, the YSRC won 41 divisions out of the total 50. Opposition TDP managed to win six seats while the JSP secured one division and the independents put up a decent performance by winning two divisions.
As the OMC Mayor post has been reserved for SC-women, the YSRC corporators will meet soon to elect their Mayor and Deputy Mayor candidates under the leadership of Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy. A few names are making rounds in the ruling party for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts. Sources said G Sujatha has a good chance to become the mayor.
Markapur and Chirala Municipalities along with the Kanigiri, Giddalur, Addanki and Chimakurthy nagar panchayats also went in favour of the YSRC. Kanigiri Nagar Panchayat was swept by the ruling party, bagging 20 out of 20 municipal wards. In Chimakurthy and Giddalur Nagar Panchayats, the YSRC won 18 and 16 wards, respectively, of the totals 20 wards.
In Addanki Nagar Panchayat, YSRC won 12 of 20 wards. The YSRC candidates bagged 30 out of 35 wards in Markapur municipality, leaving five divisions to the TDP. In Chirala Municipality, it was a fight between YSRC candidates and its rebels. While YSRC candidates managed to secure 19 of the 33 wards, ruling party rebels won 13 wards. The TDP is limited to just one seat.