Ministerial aspirant and Telugu Desam Party nominee Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy won the MLC election in Prakasam district by 711 votes. The YSRC’s poll boycott call did not work, as MPTCs, ZPTCs and councillors, cutting across party lines, enabled Mr. Reddy to gain 724 votes as against a mere 13 votes won by the YSRC. “My appeal to people to vote for me for the overall development of the district worked well,” Mr. Reddy said even as YSRC Whip in Parliament Y.V. Subba Reddy said the TDP’s victory in Prakasam and Kurnool did not bring any credit to the ruling party, which had allegedly engineered defections by offering inducements. As many 17 votes were declared invalid, while the vote of former ZP Chairman Edara Haribabu, who had challenged in the Supreme court his disqualification as ZPTC member from Ponnalur for alleged violation of whip issued by the TDP during the indirect election held last year, was kept in a sealed cover.
