TDP's charm holds good in ZP polls too

HYDERABAD: The TDP, which surprised political pundits in the municipal elections in Seemandhra, continued its winning streak in the Mandal Parishad and Zilla Parishad elections in the region, pushing the YSR Congress Party to the second position.

In Telangana, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Congress were fighting a neck-to-neck battle, when the reports last came in. The counting of ballots was going on at a slow pace and the final results might be out only by early Wednesday.

The TRS and the YCP that were trailing behind in the municipal elections bounced back into reckoning as a strong force by giving a neck-and-neck fight to their rivals- Congress and TDP in Telangana and Seemandhra regions respectively.

In Telangana, the TRS was ahead by winning 161 ZPTC seats out of a total of 443, while the Congress Party stood second by winning 83 seats at 10.25 pm. The TDP fared very poorly and managed to secure only 20 ZPTCs in the Telangana.

The party, which ruled the State for 17 long years, failed to open its account in Warangal, Nalgonda and Nizamabad districts in the ZPTC polls. In eight districts of Telangana, it could not cross the single digit mark.

However, the TDP shocked the TRS by winning the Gajwel ZPTC seat. TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao, who is projected as Chief Ministerial candidate of the party, is contesting from Gajwel Assembly constituency.

The TRS won three Zilla Parishad chairperson posts by securing clear majority in Karimnagar (41), Adilabad (39) and Nizamabad (24), while the Congress Party appeared to be inching towards grabbing Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda ZPs.

A hung situation is likely to prevail in Warangal, Medak and Ranga Reddy. The TDP won Khammam Zilla Parishad. However, in the MPTC elections of Telangana, the Congress managed to retain its hold and secured a majority of the seats. Of the total, 6,497 seats, Congress won 1,785 MPTC seats.

The TRS secured the second place by winning 1,475 seats. The TDP won 789 MPTC seats. Parties like MIM, BJP, Left Parties and Independents won the remainingseats in Telangana. In Seemandhra region, the YSRCP managed to put a check on the dominance of the rival TDP, which put up impressive performance in the municipal elections.

However, it could not surpass the winning tally of its arch rival in many Seemandhra districts. The TDP won six Zilla Parishads ' Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, West Godavari, East Godavari, Chittoor and Anantapur by securing clear majority over its rival.

The YSR Congress party won Prakasam ZP and was ahead in Nellore, Kadapa and Kurnool districts. Of the total 653 ZPTC seats, the TDP won 172 seats across the region while the YCP won 128 seats at the time of going to press.

Among the MPTC seats in Seemandhra, the TDP got 3,842 seats out of a total of 10,092 seats, while YCP won 3,091 seats across the region. The Congress party managed only 100 seats. Other parties including Left, BJP and independents won 324 seats across the region.