Tirupati, May 2 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSRCP on Sunday retained the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat with a thumping majority over its nearest rival, the TDP.
YSRCP's M. Gurumoorthy trounced his nearest rival, Panabaka Lakshmi of the TDP, by a margin of 2,71,319 votes.
The YSRCP candidate polled 6,25,820 votes. In contrast, the TDP candidate garnered 3,54,253 votes, while the BJP's Ratnaprabha polled 57,070 votes.
The YSRCP victory margin of 2.71 lakh votes in the Tirupati bypoll is greater than its victory margin of 2.28 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The vote counting process was spread over 25 rounds, under strict Covid protocols at 10 halls of the SV University campus in Tirupati, and seven halls of the DKW college.
Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated by the death of YSRCP's sitting member Balli Durgaprasad in September 2020. There were 28 candidates in the fray that saw a concerted battle between the ruling YSRCP, the opposition TDP and the BJP.
Voting for the bypoll had taken place on April 17, with overall turnout of 64 per cent.