TDP-led NDA heads for landslide victory in local body polls in Andhra Pradesh

NDA activists celebrating the victory of its candidates in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU The TDP-Jana Sena Party (JSP)-BJP alliance in Andhra Pradesh is poised to hand a crushing defeat to the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in the local body elections by winning a majority of 13 Municipal Corporations and 79 Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats that went to polls on November 1.The YSRCP failed to withstand the might of the ruling coalition in Pulivendula, a traditional stronghold of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy family, and which is currently represented in the Legislative Assembly by his son Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the former Chief Minister and YSRCP president.The opposition party also failed to stem the NDA tide in Kadapa Municipal Corporation, where TDP’s Nellaturi Suvarna is poised to clinch the Mayor seat.In Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), the State’s largest municipal corporation, TDP candidate Mukka Sravani is likely to defeat YSRCP’s Varudu Kalyani.JSP candidate Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, son of slain Congress leader Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga, is also likely to register an impressive victory against YSRCP’s Rayana Bhagya Lakshmi in the mayoral election in Vijayawada, where former IPS officer A.B. Venkateswara Rao tried his luck as an independent candidate with the backing of the Congress and Left parties, but to no avail.NDA candidates are leading in other corporations —Chittoor, Eluru, Guntur, Kurnool, Machilipatnam, Nellore, Ongole, Tirupati and Vizianagaram.The State Election Commission (SEC) had earlier declared 17 candidates unanimously elected as chairpersons of Municipalities/ Nagar Panchayats in Piduguralla, Gurajala, Dachepalli, Kanigiri, Nagari, Punganur, Rayachoti, Rajampet, Proddatur, Badvel, Mydukur, Gooty, Kamalapuram, Allagadda, Atmakuru, Darsi and Yerraguntla.Eight Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats in Allagadda, Dachepalli, Darsi, Gurajala, Kamalapuram, Piduguralla, Proddatur, Rayachoti had unanimous election of both the chairpersons and ward members.Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu claimed that the people reposed their faith in the TDP-led coalition due to its development- and welfare-oriented politics, and insisted that the YSRCP paid a heavy price again for not learning the lessons after being decimated in the 2024 elections.Mocking the victory secured by the TDP and its allies, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said in a social media post that Mr. Naidu demonstrated how to win an election spectacularly by robbing the opposition of its chance to compete.He alleged that the nominations, their scrutiny and withdrawal were hijacked, polling agents were obstructed or pulled out, the poll was rigged, poll percentages were manipulated, and the counting was also hijacked.“You selected the candidates, but people never elected them. The need for electoral reforms has never been more obvious,” he observed, calling it a ‘Jungle Raj’. Published - November 03, 2026 08:41 pm IST