Prajarajyam party tastes first electoral success

Chiranjeevi on Friday said that the candidate who lost in the Alur Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency election did not belong to Praja Rajyam. Chiranjeevi laid claim to the victory of the Bhooma Nagi Reddy-backed candidate at Allagadda. Chiranjeevi told the media here that the Allagadda victory was a sign of things to come, and the Praja Rajyam would sweep the Assembly elections next year. The Allagadda victory, however, was propelled by Mr Bhooma and Mrs Shoba Nagi Reddy, who win elections by themselves irrespective of which party they belong to. So strong is their hold on Allagadda. The Allagadda PR candidate, Mr M. Ravi, won the election ahead of the Congress, and the TD only just managed to save its deposit despite a high-decibel campaign led by the likes for TD leader and actor Roja, Mr Mysoora Reddy and the former ministers, Mr K.E. Krishna Murthy and Mr Md Farooq. The Alur ZPTC seat, which the PR lost, was earlier held by the Congress, whose member, Mr Masala Eranna, resigned and joined the Praja Rajyam. Mr Eranna did not contest the bypoll. The minister, Mr M. Mareppa, resigned afer the Congress lost the election. The Chiranjeevi factor pulled in 179 votes Mr Anand who lost his deposit. The ZPTC went to the Telugu Desam. The Congress won five of the six MPTC seats elsewhere in the district. In the rest of the state, the Congress and the TD won three ZPTCs each in the byelections. Congress candidates bagged a majority of the 48 MPTC bypolls. The Congress won the Kapu-dominated Kirlampudi ZPTC in East Godavari district by 12,000 votes over the TD. The seat was held by Mr Tota Naveen of the Telugu Desam who joined the Praja Rajyam, which stayed off the election. In West Godavari district, the Congress lost to the TD in Denduluru ZPTC. The seat is part of the Kamma-dominated Denduluru Asse-mbly segment, represented by the minister, Mr Maganti Venkateswara Rao, who resigned after the defeat. The two other ZPTCs, Peravali and Achanta, went to the Congress. In Nizamabad district, the TD won Makloor ZPTC over the Congress by a margin of 3,000 votes with the help of the TRS. The Congress won all the four MPTCs in Nizamabad district.