Rebel and Independent Candidates Make Their Mark in Parishad Elections

Rebel and independent candidates made a strong impact in the parishad elections in Krishna district, winning one ZPTC and eight MPTC seats. They secured victories despite facing candidates from the ruling alliance, YSRCP and other parties. The victories included the Movva ZPTC seat, two MPTC seats in Gannavaram mandal and one each in Challapalli, Machilipatnam North, Machilipatnam South, Movva, Pamarru and Pamidimukkala. Nannapaneni Veerendra, who aspired to contest the Movva ZPTC seat on a TDP ticket, was disappointed when the seat was allotted to Jana Sena as part of the alliance arrangement. He entered the fray as a TDP rebel and was subsequently suspended from the party. However, he continued his campaign and won by a massive margin of 6,668 votes, reportedly benefiting from support among YSRCP voters as well.

Several other rebel candidates also registered victories. In Bhogireddypalli of Machilipatnam South mandal, TDP rebel Nanduri Yedukondalu defeated YSRCP candidate Marella Subbarao by 252 votes after the seat was allotted to Jana Sena. In Mekavanipalem of Machilipatnam North, TDP rebel Valisetti Vimaneesh defeated Jana Sena candidate Sripathi Bhano Murthy by 1,493 votes, the highest margin among the independent MPTC winners mentioned in the report. Jana Sena rebel Matta Himabindu won the Raparla MPTC seat in Pamarru mandal by 337 votes, while independent candidate Ayyanki Jayaraju secured Pedasanagallu in Movva mandal by 1,373 votes. Four independent candidates also won MPTC seats: Yeragani Rattaiah and Sonti Kishore Kumar in Kesarpalli-2 and Kesarpalli-3 of Gannavaram mandal, with margins of 559 and 438 votes respectively; Matta Kanaka Vijayalakshmi in Lakshmipuram-3 of Challapalli mandal by 275 votes; and Merakanapalli Manju in Pamidimukkala mandal by 1,115 votes.