TRS in Telangana, TDP in AP has a cakewalk

HYDERABAD: Several YSRC counsellors in Andhra Pradesh and Congress counsellors in Telangana backed the ruling parties in their respective States during the indirect polls for municipal chairpersons' posts held Thursday.

In Telangana, the TRS bagged all the three mayoral posts ' Sardar Ravindar Singh was elected mayor of Karimnagar Municipal Corporation and Akula Sujatha mayor of Nizamabad Corporation. K Lakshminarayana, an independent, who was elected mayor of Ramagundam, extended his support to the TRS. Of the 52 municipalities in the State for which elections were held earlier, indirect polls were held for chairpersons in 50 municipalities.

Of them, the TRS won 22, Congress 20, TDP 4, BJP 3 and the MIM one. Elections for chairpersons in the remaining two municipalities, Nalgonda and Suryapeta, will be held Friday.

In AP, indirect elections were held for seven municipal corporations and 92 municipalities. The TDP bagged five mayoral posts whereas the YSRC won two. The yellow party won Rajahmundry (Pantham Rajani Seshasai), Eluru (Shaik Nurjahan), Vijayawada (Koneru Sridhar), Anantapur (M Swarupa) and Chittoor (K Anuradha).

YSRC captured Nellore (Abdul Azeez) and Kadapa (K Suresh Babu). Of the 92 municipalities, elections were held for 90 while the remaining two, Jammalamadugu (Kadapa) and Markapur (Prakasam), will go to polls Friday. Of the 90, the TDP won 73 and the YSRC 15. The Congress won the Atmakuru municipality in Nellore district. The CPI bagged Vinukonda municipality in Guntur district.

Compared to elections in Telangana, polls in AP witnessed high drama with warring parties hurling allegations of horse trading and even kidnapping at each other.

Sporadic incidents of violence were also reported from Prakasam, Kadapa, Nellore and some other districts. In Chirala, local TDP cadres and supporters of MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan attacked each other when the legislator, who was elected on the plank of Navodayam Party in the Assembly polls and later, extended support to the TDP, backed the TDP nominee for the municipal chairman's post.

Tension also prevailed at Jammalamadugu when TDP leader Ramasubba Reddy and his supporters picked up an argument with YSRC cadres alleging they had kidnapped a party counsellor.

As both sides pelted stones at each other, police had to open fire in the air to disperse them. In Bobbili, YSRC supporters thrashed their own counsellor for voting for the TDP nominee.

Crying foul over the way the TDP has lured its counsellors, YSRC lodged a complaint with the State Election Commission.