Tirupati Lok Sabha segment presents a ‘mixed bag’ for YSRCP

Party loses in all seven Assembly constituencies, but retains Tirupati LS seats, thanks to cross voting

Physiotherapist Maddila Gurumoorthy, the YSRCP candidate who won the Tirupati LS seat. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

It turned out to be a mixed bag for the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Tirupati in the recent general elections.

Voters gave the party a pleasant surprise by supporting it in the Tirupati (SC) Lok Sabha seat, but gave it a rude shock by defeating its candidates in all the seven Assembly constituencies forming part of the parliament seat.

Thanks to rampant cross voting, the voters apparently gave a new definition to choosing the party/candidate of their choice, in case of simultaneous elections. The constituency attained a uniform hue when the Lok Sabha is viewed and an altogether different trend when the individual Assembly seats are cosidered.

YSRCP’s Maddila Gurumoorthy secured 6,32,228 votes to surpass BJP candidate V. Varaprasada Rao’s 6,17,659 votes, touching the goal post by a wafer-thin margin of 16,118 votes.

In sharp contrast, YSRCP candidates suffered a drubbing in all the seven constituencies. Bhumana Abhinay Reddy (Tirupati), Biyyapu Madhusudhan Reddy (Srikalahasti), N. Rajesh (Satyavedu), K. Sanjeevaiah (Sullurpeta), Meriga Muralidhar (Gudur), Nedurumalli Ramkumar (Venkatagiri) and Kakani Govardhan Reddy (Sarvepalli) had to taste defeat.

The voting pattern shows that BJP’s Varaprasada Rao got a higher vote share only in Tirupati and Srikalahasti segments, while Dr. Gurumoorthy, a physiotherapist by profession, managed to maintain edge in the other five segments.

Even seasoned politicians are bewildered to note the rampant cross voting in this election, which is witnessed for the first time ever.