Vijayawada: By Tuesday afternoon, the counting tables in Andhra Pradesh were telling a story the 2021 result had buried. The TDP-led National Democratic Alliance was ahead in 10 of the 13 municipal corporations and 62 of 83 municipalities, and the YSR Congress Party, which had swept every corporation five years ago, had not taken the lead in even one.
Counting for 92 urban local bodies — 13 corporations and 79 municipalities and nagar panchayats — began at 8 am across 3,186 wards in 138 centres, with 47,817 officials deployed. The State Election Commission put the final turnout at 62.16 per cent: 60,22,411 of 96,89,061 electors voted on November 1.
The arithmetic favoured the alliance from the start. The TDP contested 10 corporations, the Jana Sena two and the BJP one, while the YSRCP fielded candidates in all 13. Of 87 chairperson posts, 17 were decided unopposed — 15 to the TDP, one each to the Jana Sena and the BJP. In Punganur, 32 of 36 wards were settled without a vote, and in Rayachoti all 44 wards and the chairperson's post went uncontested.
The day was not tidy. Cyclone Murasu pushed counting in Prakasam and Bapatla from 8 am to 11.30 am, and Ongole's count began only at noon. In Vijayawada it started about two and a half hours late. At Parvathipuram, keys to the strong room went missing and locks had to be broken open around 10 am; the commission suspended two polling officers.
Tension flared at the Kuppam centre in Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's constituency, where YSRCP workers objected to the trends. In Pulivendula, the High Court cleared counting at 7.30 am, dismissing petitions by YSRCP chairperson candidate Y.S. Pramila and MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy seeking a wider repoll. Jagan Mohan Reddy staged a sit-in outside the Returning Officer's office, alleging that 681 votes were recorded under "others" against 14 such electors on the roll.
In Greater Visakhapatnam, the CPI(M) took Ward 105 by 1,068 votes to 964, the first result of the corporation's second general election.