Hyderabad (IANS): Establishing an unassailable lead of over 200,000 votes, YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was Friday heading for a landslide victory in the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. His mother Y.S. Vijayalaxmi was also ahead of her rivals in the Pulivendula assembly by-election.
Riding on a sympathy wave in the family stronghold, the young Reddy — son of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy — established a lead of 220,000 votes at the end of eighth round of counting.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister and Congress candidate D.L. Ravindra Reddy was way behind Jagan with 110,000 votes while M.V. Mysoora Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was trailing at third position with 90,000 votes.
Vijayalaxmi was ahead by over 40,000 votes against her brother-in-law Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy of the Congress.
The by-elections, caused by their resignations, were held May 8.
It is the first test of strength for the son of the late chief minister after he quit the ruling Congress and floated the YSR Congress.
Among the 13.29 lakh eligible voters in Kadapa, 10.28 lakh exercised their franchises. In Pulivendula, one of the seven assembly segments of Kadapa Lok Sabha, 156,276 of the 189,000 electorate voted.
There were a total of 42 candidates in Kadapa and 25 in Pulivendula.
In 2009, Jagan won with a majority of 178,846 votes. He had polled 542,611 votes while Palem Srikanth Reddy of TDP secured 363,765 votes.
Vijayalaxmi was elected unopposed in the last by-elections held in December 2009 — four months after the death of her husband and then chief minister Y.S.R. in a helicopter crash.
YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known, was elected from Pulivendula in 2009 with a majority of over 60,000 votes.
Jagan and his mother quit the Congress in November last year and also resigned from parliamentary and assembly seats respectively, accusing the leadership of dividing their family.
In March, Jagan launched the YSR Congress party.