With the completion of the fourth phase of panchayat polls in Andhra Pradesh, political parties have resumed doling out their own victory statistics about the candidates aligned to them.

Out of the 3,299 panchayats notified, the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) said polls occurred in 2,743 panchayats and claimed that 2,513 panchayats were won by the candidates aligned to the party.

According to YSRCP count, principal opposition, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) aligned candidates were restricted to only 488 panchayat victories.

The ruling party leaders also claimed that the YSRCP supporters managed to win 534 of the 554 unanimous panchayats in the fourth phase and asserted that the TDP won only nine panchayats.

Meanwhile, TDP claimed that it won 1,105 panchayats in the fourth phase while the ruling party won only 1,460.

“It has been proved that only TDP strengthened candidates have been honoured by the people in the elections. This is an example to show that people are loathing Jagan Reddy’s reign,” said a TDP leader.

As per TDP’s calculations, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its local ally Janasena won 42 panchayats while independents won 82.

Andhra Pradesh government’s advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has poured cold water on TDP’s assertions that the ruling party has been facing resentment in the state, by comparing with the results of the panchayat elections, as YSRCP leaders claimed that TDP has put up a dismal performance in its bastions.

Reddy asserted that the YSRCP aligned candidates made inroads in Mailavaram, the constituency of former TDP Minister Devineni Uma.

He highlighted that TDP aligned candidates could only manage three sarpanch posts out of 48 panchayats, compared to YSRCP’s 44 victories.

The YSRCP leader gave a statement comparing the victories of both the ruling party and TDP in the first phase of the four-phase polls.

Likewise in Tekkali, which happens to be the constituency of TDP state president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, the opposition party managed to win only 23 out of 135 panchayats, while YSRCP managed to win 112.

Similarly in Tuni, the constituency of former TDP minister and senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, TDP secured only three victories from a total of 58 panchayats, with the balance 54 being bagged by YSRCP supporters.

Moreover, the opposition party won only two panchayats in Mangalagiri constituency’s 18 panchayats, which was the constituency of TDP supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh in the last Assembly elections.

“Mangalgiri reflects the fact that the party has achieved absolute obscurity in the state. On the other hand, YSRCP candidates managed to secure 14 out of the 18 panchayats in fray,” said a YSRCP leader.

In a similar fashion, Naidu’s TDP suffered setbacks in Undi, a TDP fortress for several years, by winning only 14 out of the 70 panchayats, compared to YSRCP’s exploits of 50 sarpanch post victories.

Undi constituency was represented by TDP leader Kalavapudi Siva.

According to the YSRCP leaders, candidates aligned to Pawan Kalyan’s Janasena won only three panchayats in Bhimavaram constituency, from where the actor-politician lost in the 2019 Assembly elections, compared to TDP’s two victories and YSRCP’s 39 wins.

YSRCP leaders claimed that the ruling party won more than 80 percent panchayats in the first phase elections, indicating the popularity of the chief minister’s welfare-centric governance.

“TDP faced humiliation due to party’s dismal performance in age-old bastions,” claimed a YSRCP leader.

In many places, Janasena ate into the vote share of TDP.

As expected, the ruling YCP has got a firm hold on the panchayat elections. In the first phase polls, the YCP supported candidates were declared unanimously elected in 468 sarpanch posts as against just 22 of the TDP. The overall percentage of unanimous polls in the first phase was put at 15.91 percent.

The polling will now be held in over 2,732 panchayats. Of the total 3,249 panchayats in the first phase, unanimous polls were declared in 517 seats altogether. Of these, over 27 were independents who have no political party affiliations. The percentage of unanimous polls came down significantly when compared to the controversial MPTC and ZPTC elections that were held in March last year. After that, the TDP started putting objections to the campaign for unanimous polls.
Analysts say that the ruling YCP leaders have actually aimed at more unanimous polls and the comparatively low percentage would indeed be a blow to their strategies.

It is now clear the polling will be held in about 85 percent seats. Given the stiff competition between the rival candidates, it is indeed going to be a tough test for the ruling YCP to prove its supremacy. On its part, the TDP has mounted significant pressure on the ruling party with its campaign against unanimous polls.