TDP’s Panchumarthi Anuradha, 6 YSRC nominees win MLC elections

AMARAVATI : In an unexpected shock to YSRCP, Telugu Desham Party(TDP) candidate Panchumarthi Anuradha won the legislative council elections from the MLA quota on Thursday.

YCP was anticipated to sweep all seven seats with 151 MLAs and four rebel TDP MLAs. However, Anuradha won the support of 23 MLAs despite the TDP having only 19 MLAs.

Anuradha's victory, on the other hand, represents a significant setback for the ruling YSRCP party, which had nominated seven candidates and anticipated to win all of them.

All 175 MLAs voted, with YSRCP's Nellimarla MLA Badhukonda Appala Naidu being the last to vote owing to a wedding in his family, after the YSRCP party leadership reportedly organized a special aircraft for Naidu to reach the Assembly to vote.

The YSRCP needed every vote to win all seven seats because the TDP fielded a candidate for one of the seven seats. However, the YSRCP secured only six seats.

Seven YSRCP candidates filed nominations for the same number of MLC seats that would become vacant in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council at the end of March. The ruling party had seven candidates, including Venkata Suryanarayana Raju, Jayamangala Venkataramana, Marri Rajasekhar, C. H. Yesuratnam, Bommi Israel, Kola Guruvulu and Pothula Sunita.

Nara Lokesh, Pothula Sunitha, Bucchula Arjunudu, Dokka Manikya Varaprasad, and Gangula Prabakar Reddy were TDP members whose terms would expire on March 29, while Challa Bagheedhar Reddy's term came to an end on November 2, 2022.