The Telugu Desam Party has secured 20 of Pulivendula Municipality’s 40 wards without a contest, reshaping the local election picture in the YSR Kadapa district town represented in the Assembly by former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. Elections will now be held in the remaining 20 wards, while the municipality’s chairperson post will see a contest between the TDP and the YSR Congress.
The TDP candidates were elected unanimously in wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 40. The remaining wards scheduled for polling are 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33 and 39.
The outcome gives the TDP an initial bloc of elected councillors in a municipality where half of the wards have been decided without polling. The final balance of the council will depend on the results in the other 20 wards and the subsequent contest for the chairperson’s position.
Pulivendula’s result is part of a wider pattern reported in the district’s urban local bodies. The ruling coalition has secured six chairperson posts through unanimous elections in Yerraguntla, Proddatur, Badvel, Kamalapuram, Rajampet and Mydukur.
The elected chairperson candidates in those municipalities are G. Madhulatha in Yerraguntla, Nandyala Raghava Reddy in Proddatur, Somisila Divya Teja in Badvel, Gongali Reddy Swapna in Kamalapuram, Dontam Gayatri in Rajampet and Dhanapala Jagan Mohan Raju in Mydukur.
The district-level municipal election process is not yet complete. Elections remain pending in Jammalamadugu and Pulivendula municipalities, as well as in Kadapa Municipal Corporation. In Pulivendula, the pending ward contests will determine the remaining elected representation, while the chairperson election will decide who leads the municipality.
Municipal councils are responsible for administering local urban services and civic functions, making the composition of the council relevant to how the town’s elected leadership is formed. In Pulivendula, the final political arrangement will only become clear after polling in the remaining wards and the chairperson contest are completed.
