TDP Won Nandyal By Threats, Allurements: Jagan

YSR Congress Party chief and Leader Of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Y S Jaganmohan Reddy thanked all those who voted for the YSRCP in the Nandyal by-election despite "intimidation, threats and allurements" from the ruling Telugu Desam Party.

He also thanked his party leaders who braved all the threats to work for the party against heavy odds.

He also congratulated the party candidate Silpa Mohan Reddy and his brother Chakrapani Reddy for "bravely standing up for political morality" and "fighting the battle of right against might".

Reacting to the Nandyal by-poll outcome at Hyderabad on Monday, Jagan conceded that he had received a punch, but said that the TDP had resorted to misuse of power to win the election.

"The administration was fully used to threaten and influence the voters. If Chandrababu thinks he has won in Nandyal, it is wrong. He has backtracked on the promises given to the voters at the time of 2014 elections, and they overwhelmingly slammed him during the campaign. Yet, he managed to win because this is not a general election and the people know that a defeat in Nandyal will not throw him out of power," Jagan said.

He said that the election should not be seen as a referendum. "How can a single Assembly by-election outcome, where all ministers and over 100 MLAs were deployed and over Rs 200 crores were spent to influence the voters, be considered a referendum?" he asked. "Let Naidu ask all the turncoat MLAs to resign and get re-elected on the TDP symbol. Such an act alone can be considered as a referendum. The result in one constituency, where an election was held in an extraordinary circumstance, cannot be a referendum," he added.