Tirupati, May 2 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) continued to lead the race in the Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll, with its candidate Gurumoorthy registering a lead of more than 80,000 votes over his nearest rival from the TDP.

Following the latest round of counting, the YSRCP has garnered 1,89,174 votes while the TDP candidate Panabaka Lakshmi has registered 1,07,321 votes followed by the BJP candidate Ratnaprabha with 18,296 votes. The Congress candidate Chinta Mohan was trailing far behind with 3,011 votes.

In all, the counting of votes will take place for over 25 rounds. Vote counting is taking place under strict Covid protocols at ten halls of the S.V. University campus in Tirupati, and seven halls of the D.K.W. college.

Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated by the death of the YSRCP's Balli Durgaprasad in September 2020.

Voting for the bypoll had taken place on April 17, with an overall voting percentage of 64.

The SC reserved constituency with around 17.1 lakh voters, comprises seven Assembly segments, namely Tirupati, Satyavedu, and Srikalahasti in Tirupati district, and Gudur, Sarvepalli, and Sullurpeta in Nellore district.