TIT FOR TAT BY SEEMANDHRA PEOPLE

SEPARATIST CONGRESS THROWN TO DUSTBIN

The Telugu Desam Party established a lead today, followed by the YSR Congress, in the elections to rural local bodies for the Seemandhra region, while Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samiti stole the limelight in the Telangana region. The TDP was ahead of its rivals in East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts as per preliminary information coming in from districts in the Seemandhra region. YSR Congress is leading in Kadapa, Prakasam and Nellore districts, while it is locked in a close contest with TDP in other districts. The Congress, which has ruled Andhra Pradesh for 41 years in the 57 years of its existence, is understood to be faring badly in the rural local bodies due to the bifurcation issue. In Telangana, Congress and TRS appear to share the honours. TDP, which was once a major force in the region, is trailing behind the two parties, as per information coming in from the districts. Counting of votes for the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) began across undivided Andhra Pradesh this morning. The exercise is a time-consuming process because ballot papers were used for the April 6 polls instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and most of the results are expected to be out only by late tonight or tomorrow. According to Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission (APSEC) sources, over 2,000 counting centres have been set up for manual counting of votes for 16,589 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and 1,096 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs). The ruling Congress suffered a major blow yesterday in urban civic body polls for the Seemandhra region, where the opposition TDP put up a stellar performance, but managed to steal the show in the Telangana region, where the party claimed credit for granting statehood.