YSRCP retains Tirupati Lok Sabha seat with a better majority

The ruling YSRCP has retained the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat with a majority of 2.7 lakh votes.

Party candidate Maddila Gurumurthy has pulled 6,26,108 votes, while his nearest rival TDP's Panbaka Lakshmi pulled 35,4516 votes out of the over 11 lakh valid votes.

The BJP-JanaSena combine candidate and former chief secretary of Karnataka K Ratna Prabha came third with 57,080 votes.

The ruling party in Andhra Pradesh had won the seat in the 2019 general elections with a 2.28 lakh majority and has reportedly targeted a majority of over five lakh votes this time.

YSRCP's Lok Sabha tally remains the same, at 22 MPs.

The SC reserved Lok Sabha constituency, spread over Chittoor and Nellore districts, went for bypolls following the death of sitting YSRCP MP Balli Durga Prasad Rao in September.

The election day – April 17 – was marred by several alleged incidents of counterfeit voting. Leaders of TDP, BJP and the Congress, including their contestants, had brought several instances of bogus voting at various polling booths to the notice of the public and social media with video evidence.

Accusing the ruling YSRCP of resorting to large-scale fake voting, impersonation and other malpractices, the TDP, BJP-Janasena had written to the Election Commission of India, demanding re-polling.

After the results were declared on Sunday, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu accused the YSRCP leaders of “misuse of government machinery and repression of democracy with their atrocities.”

YSRCP Tirupati Lok Sabha MP-elect

A political novice, Gurumurthy was best known as the personal physiotherapist of party chief Jaganmohan Reddy during his 3648-km “Praja Sankalpa Yatra” which traversed Andhra Pradesh ahead of the 2019 Assembly and general elections.

Jagan picking Gurumurthy, instead of deceased MP Rao's son Kalyan Chakravarthy, as YSRCP's candidate is seen as a big reward for his personal service commitment and party loyalty.

During the election campaign, BJP leaders, including party state in-charge Sunil Deodhar, stated Gurumurthy is ineligible to contest from the SC reserved seat alleging that he is a converted Christian.