TIRUPATI: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has registered a landslide victory in the Kuppam Urban Local Body elections, sweeping all 32 wards with a 100 per cent strike rate in the home constituency of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The resounding victory marks a dramatic political comeback for the TDP in its traditional stronghold, where it suffered a major setback in the 2021 municipal elections.
In a historic reversal, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which was then in power, had won 19 of the 25 wards, restricting the TDP to just six seats and ending its control over the Kuppam civic body for the first time in nearly three-and-a-half decades.
Five years later, the TDP has regained complete control of the municipality, winning every ward and leaving the opposition YSRCP without a single seat.
The outcome is being viewed as a significant political backing of Chandrababu Naidu’s leadership in his home constituency. The TDP’s chairperson candidate, Raj Kumar, also registered a resounding victory, polling 22,622 votes against 7,086 votes secured by his nearest YSRCP rival. He won with a massive majority of 15,536 votes.
According to the counting figures, the municipality recorded 30,659 valid votes and 576 invalid votes, taking the total number of votes polled to 31,235.
The 2021 municipal election verdict had dealt a major political blow to the TDP, with the then ruling YSRCP mounting an aggressive campaign in Chandrababu Naidu’s home constituency. However, the latest results have completely reversed the political equation.
TDP storms YS family bastion, wrests Pulivendula
Kadapa: In a major political setback to the YS family, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has wrested control of Pulivendula municipality, ending the family’s uninterrupted electoral dominance in its traditional stronghold since 1978.
TDP candidate Thugutla Geetha Kumari defeated YSRCP nominee YS Prameelamma, wife of former municipal chairperson YS Manohar Reddy, to win the chairperson’s post.
The contest was considered prestigious by the YSRCP, with former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy personally attaching importance to the outcome. Of Pulivendula’s 40 wards, TDP candidates had already been elected unopposed in 20
