Atmakur bypoll: YSRC candidate Mekapati Vikram wins with 82,742 majority

Nellore: YSR Congress candidate Mekapati Vikram Reddy secured big win in Atmakur by-poll, with a thumping majority of 82,742 votes. Vikram trounced his 13 rivals including BJP’s G.Bharat Kumar with with big margin at the end of 20th round of counting on Sunday.

The counting commenced at 8 am in an engineering college at Atmakur under the supervision of Joint Collector and Returning Officer MN Harendhira Prasad and District Election Officer and Collector KVN Chakradhar Babu.

Vikram Reddy secured a lead of 5,337 votes in the first round and he improved his voting margin to 58,230 votes after 14 rounds of counting. Vikram, a novice in politics who entered the fray to carry on the legacy of his brother Mekapati Goutham Reddy, started leading from the first round of counting and there was no looking back.

The main opposition party—the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) did not contest as per its policy against fielding candidate when kin of a deceased member is in the fray. This also helped Vikram Reddy to bag 80,000 plus votes majority.

The thumping majority is a shot in the arm for the ruling party to counter the opposition propaganda over the anti-incumbency factor working against the government.

Jubilant YSR Congress cadres and leaders started reaching Atmakur to celebrate the victory and greet Vikram Reddy.