Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration Minister and YSRCP leader Botcha Satyanarayana has claimed that opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is one step closer to obscurity after the recent 'drubbing' in the second phase of the panchayat elections.
"The TDP has lost its relevance in Andhra Pradesh and the polls prove the same," claimed Satyanarayana.
The TDP made light of the claim and said that after the second phase of counting, the TDP had won over 37 per cent of the panchayats.
According to the ruling YSRCP's leaders, even the loyalists of senior TDP leaders such as Ayyannapatrudu have failed to secure presentable results in their constituencies.
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders claimed that the TDP managed to win only 26 of the 101 panchayats in Ayyannapatrudu's constituency, compared with YSRCP's 73 victories.
In Icchapuram constituency of TDP MLA B Ashok, the TDP allegedly won just 11 of the 98 panchayats while the ruling party bagged 83 sarpanch posts.
Likewise, in Uravakonda seat represented by TDP MLA P Keshav, YSRCP reportedly won 15 of the 19 panchayats, restricting the TDP to wins on just four sarpanch posts.
In Raptadu, the constituency of former TDP Minister Paritala Sunita, YSRCP leaders claimed they won 45 of the 58 panchayats, relegating TDP to just 12.
Similarly, in Janaganapalle constituency, from where TDP's Bejjam Parthasarathi hails, the ruling party's leaders claimed that teh TDP won just 13 of the 102 panchayats while the YSRCP managed to win as many as 88 of them.
Showcasing the strength of YSRCP, party leaders claimed that the ruling party won 53 of the 67 panchayats in Jaggampeta segment represented by YSRCP leader B Chanti Babu while the TDP allegedly managed to win only 14.
In Vidadala Rajini's Chilakaluripeta constituency, the YSRCP won 34 of the 51 panchayats, compared with TDP's 16 victories.
In Narsaraopeta represented by YSRCP MLA Gopireddy Srinivas Reddy, the ruling party won 47 of the 49 panchayat elections while the TDP reportedly won only two.
In Ram Narayana Reddy's Venkatagiri constituency, the TDP won two of the 20 panchayats while the YSRCP won 18.
Meanwhile, the TDP refuted the claims and said that it won 952 panchayat elections, compared with the ruling party's 1,368. According to TDP's calculations, the BJP and Janasena alliance won only eight panchayats while the latter claims more victories.
However, one thing is clear in these rural local bodies elections -- Janasena has eaten into the vote share of the TDP, so much so that in some villages there were no TDP candidates to contest.
In the first two phases of the four-phased panchayat elections, there was an impressive turnout of voters.
TDP national President Nara Chandrababu Naidu hailed the turnout as a victory of democracy.
"In the just-concluded second phase of counting, the TDP won 1,033 out of 2,778 panchayats which came to be 37.67 per cent," claimed Naidu.
He claimed that the credit for strengthening public faith in democracy goes to the TDP as the ruling party's Ministers, MPs and MLAs were rejected.