Amaravati, Nov 2 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) was racing ahead to retain the Badvel Assembly seat as its candidate Dasari Sudha had taken a massive lead of over 60,000 in seven rounds of counting.

Sudha was leading by 60,765 votes over the BJP's P. Suresh in the constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes.

The YSRCP candidate took a lead from the first round and increased it as the counting progressed. At the end of the seventh round, she had secured 74,991 votes, while Suresh was a distant second with 14,226.

The Congress party's M. Kamalamma was at third place with just 4,252 votes.

Sudha is the widow of G. Venkatasubbaiah of whose death caused the by-election in the constituency in Kadapa district, the home district of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

A total of 15 candidates were in the fray and the constituency recorded a 68.12 per cent voter turnout on October 30.

Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) stayed away from the contest in line with its tradition of supporting the family members of the deceased MLA.