TDP-led NDA far ahead in Andhra civic polls, five years after the YSRCP won every corporation

The alliance led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party is far ahead in Andhra Pradesh's urban local body elections, according to counts reported after votes were taken up on 3 November. In the previous round in 2021, the YSR Congress Party won all 13 municipal corporations.

The numbers so far

We have not seen final figures from the State Election Commission, and the counts in circulation differ.

At 6 pm on 3 November, ThePrint reported the NDA leading in 10 of the 13 corporations and nearly 65 municipalities, with counting still going on at many centres. India TV's last statewide count that day, at 4.34 pm, had 2,265 of 3,942 wards declared: 1,635 for the TDP, 265 for the Jana Sena Party, 96 for the BJP and 232 for the YSRCP.

An unofficial tracker, myCorporator, later showed 3,740 of 3,942 wards declared: TDP 2,475, YSRCP 526, Jana Sena 468 and BJP 152. It listed nine mayoral posts for the TDP, two for the Jana Sena and one for the YSRCP, with one undeclared. These figures have not been confirmed against the Commission's data.

ThePrint said votes were counted in 3,186 wards, fewer than the statewide total because many were decided without a contest. Ahead of polling, Deccan Chronicle reported that 118 corporators and 637 ward members had been elected unopposed, and that eight of the 100 bodies had no contest for the chair or any ward. Polling on 1 November covered 92 bodies. ThePrint put final turnout at 62.16 per cent, citing Commission data.

What the parties said

Union Minister of State Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said at the TDP's office in Mangalagiri that the elections "were peaceful" and that the NDA had won over 90 per cent of the seats it contested.

YSRCP Scheduled Caste Cell state president T.J.R. Sudhakar Babu declared 3 November a "black day." He alleged that Naidu had hijacked the process through police power and intimidation. We found no response from the state government to that specific charge in the reports we read.

Violence and repolls

The Commission's own notes record trouble. In Ward 15 of Kadapa corporation, it ordered a repoll after a booth was captured, saying the poll process "was vitiated." ThePrint reported repolls in 12 wards across seven bodies in five districts for booth capturing and violence. In Kadapa and Pulivendula, it said, at least three cars, ten motorbikes and a tractor were set ablaze by rival TDP and YSRCP cadres.

Cyclone Murasu also disrupted the count. Prakasam and Bapatla started late, and India TV reported counting postponed in Ongole and Chirala.

The Supreme Court's order

The contest had already reached the Supreme Court. The YSRCP, under its full name, told the court that its candidates were being stopped from filing nominations by violence, and the High Court had dismissed its petition as premature.

On 21 October, a bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana found a prima facie case and said, "Free and fair elections are a basic structure of the Constitution." According to SCC Online, it told the Commission to hold back the final candidate list until 25 October and to decide by 22 October whether to extend the deadline where law and order had prevented filing. It also directed the state police chief to ensure police deployment and CCTV at nomination centres. The report we read does not say what the Commission decided.

What comes next

Polls to mandal and zilla parishad territorial constituencies, postponed from 3 November, are set for 5 November, with results two days later, according to a Commission notification cited by ThePrint.