Congress, TDP, YSR Congress claim victory in panchayat polls

All three major political parties in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday claimed that candidates backed by them have won a majority of village-level local bodies in the first phase of panchayat elections held Tuesday.

Though the polls were held on non-party basis, the political parties backed the candidates contesting for the posts of sarpanchs or village heads and ward members.

A total of 6,566 panchayats went to polls in the first phase. The ruling Congress party claimed the candidates backed by it won the maximum (1,965) posts of sarpanchs.
According to Congress leaders, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) bagged 1,893 seats while YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) finished with 1,457. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is confined to the Telangana region, bagged 474 seats. The remaining panchayats were bagged by independents and others.

The TDP, on the other hand, claimed that candidates backed by it won 1,944 seats while Congress finished second with 1,686 posts of sarpanchs. According to the main opposition party leaders, the YSRCP stood third with 1,297 seats.

Media houses owned either by the parties or their sympathizers gave contradictory tallies. 'Sakshi' owned by YSRCP leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's family, reported that the candidates backed by the party bagged 2,326 seats. It put the Congress tally at 2,152 and that of the TDP at 1,986.

The TDP claimed that it won majority panchayats in 10 districts while the Congress bagged seven districts. The YSRCP and the TRS were ahead in two districts each. Congress leaders said their party won maximum number of seats in seven districts, the TDP eight, the YSRCP four and the TRS two.

The Congress faced embarrassment even in Chittoor, the native district of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, as the TDP emerged victorious with 160 seats. The YSRCP finished second with 108 while Congress came a poor third with 56 seats. TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu also hails from the same district.

The YSRCP won the majority of seats in Kadapa, the native district of party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who is in jail for more than a year in a disproportionate assets case.
Reacting to the poll results, Chandrababu Naidu said it showed people were with the TDP. He said people taught a lesson to both the Congress and the YSRCP for what he called "destroying" the state.

State Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana said the results proved that the ruling party enjoyed the people's confidence.

The state has 21,592 gram panchayats, of which 21,491 are going to polls in three phases. The second and third phases of elections are scheduled July 27 and 31.