TDP wins Tirupati bypoll with margin of 1.16 lakh votes

HYDERABAD: The ruling TDP today asserted its supremacy in the Tirupati Assembly segment in Andhra Pradesh as the party nominee M Suguna won the bye-election with a margin of 1,16,524 votes, riding a sympathy wave.

She secured 85.69 per cent of the total 1,47,216 valid votes, pushing her main opponent R Sridevi (9,628 votes) of the Congress to the distant second in the February 13 election.

The main opposition YSR Congress had not fielded a candidate as per "the practise" of letting family member of a departed MLA contest unopposed.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Suguna's husband and TDP MLA M Venkataramana last December.

Congress, smarting under the complete rout in last year's elections when it failed to open its account in Assembly, faced further ignominy as its candidate secured a mere 6.54 per cent of votes.

Attributing the victory to her late husband's popularity among people, the development efforts of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and help from the Centre, Suguna said she would work for the temple town's development and providing housing for the poor.

Chief Minister Naidu said the verdict is the result of people's response to the TDP government's programmes in the last eight months. "I am confident that Sugunamma will keep the promises and deliver," he added.