TD leaders in upbeat mood despite defeat

Srikakulam/Hyderabad

Sept. 14: The Telugu Desam leaders are in an upbeat mood though the party lost to the Congress in the Tekkali byelection on Monday.
The reason is that the Praja Rajyam and the Lok Satta, which had divided the Opposition votes in 2009, were marginalised. The TD hopes that the 2014 polls will be a straight fight between the Congress and the Telugu Desam.
The TD president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, said the Congress won on a “double sympathy” for the MLA-elect and for YSR. “Despite the sympathy wave, the TD has done extremely well by getting 52,077 votes.”
Sources said Mr Naidu was pleased with the performance of the party and the marginalisation of the Praja Rajyam and Lok Satta.
The senior TD leader, Mr Umareddy Venkateshwarulu, said there was no loss to the Telugu Desam since the Congress retained its seat.
“The Congress margin is just 7,173. The TD has performed well despite the fears of sympathy wave,” he said. “The result indicates that YSR’s death made no impact on voters. If it had, Congress should have won by a thumping majority.”
The PR chief, Mr K. Chiranjeevi, too attributed the Congress’s bypoll win to the “YSR sympathy wave.” He said his party lost the election as it fielded a candidate at the last minute. He said the Congress victory was expected.