Jagan's Victory Shocks Congress

Late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jagan Mohan Reddy gave a rude shock to the ruling Congress and the opposition TDP by winning three of the five legislative council seats in the local bodies segment on Wednesday. The elections were held on March 21. Of the nine seats for which the results were declared, the Congress, TDP and independents supported by Jagan won three seats each, with his candidates winning two of these narrowly. The polls were the first electoral battle involving the Jagan camp, the Congress and TDP, and Jagan's men triumphing is bound to further heat up political temperature in Andhra Pradesh. Jagan's candidates contested as independents because YSR Congress is yet to be allotted a symbol. His men won in Kadapa, West Godavari and Chittoor and played spoilers in six seats resulting in the victory or defeat of Congress and TDP candidates. The results were close with Jagan's men scraping through by two votes in Chittoor and seven votes in Kadapa. Congress's defeat in Chittoor is a major embarrassment to chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who belongs to this district. In Anantapur, TDP was the unexpected victor against the Congress candidate who was done in by the rebellion by former minister J C Diwakar Reddy.