YSRCP wins Atmakuru seat by 82,888 votes in Andhra Pradesh Assembly bypoll

The ruling YSR Congress has retained the Atmakuru Assembly seat, in SPS Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, by a huge margin of 82,888 votes in the by-election held on June 23, result of which was declared on Sunday.

YSRC's Mekapati Vikram Reddy secured 1,02,241 votes against his rival G Bharat Kumar Yadav of the BJP, who managed to get only 19,353.

Bahujan Samaj Party's Nanda Obuleshu polled 4,904 and an Independent 2,276 while 4,182 voters preferred NOTA. Ten other candidates got less than 999 votes each. A total of 1,37,289 votes out of 2,13,338 were polled in the by-poll.

In the 2019 general election, YSRC won Atmakuru by a margin of over 22,000 votes.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of the then Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy in February. Vikram is the younger brother of Goutham and son of former MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy. The main opposition Telugu Desam did not field its candidate. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy thanked the voters of Atmakuru for electing Vikram Reddy. “This victory is a support to the good work of the government and a tribute to Goutham,” Jagan said in a tweet.