Dead YSR Congress candidate elected, by-election to be held

Hyderabad: A candidate of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), who died in a road accident during campaigning, was elected to Andhra Pradesh assembly from Allagadda in Kurnool district. [caption id=“attachment_1529331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Shobha Nagi Reddy (centre) died on 24 April. AFP[/caption] Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy, who died two weeks before the elections, was declared elected. The Election Commission will now hold a by-election for this assembly seat in Seemandhra. The YSRCP candidate won the seat by defeating her nearest rival G. Prabhakar Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) by nearly 18,000 votes. A key leader of the YSRCP, 46-year-old Shobha died in a car crash in her constituency on 24 April. However, the Election Commission did not countermand the election as YSR Congress is not a recognized party. Since her name was already included on the ballot paper, the poll panel clarified that she remained a contesting candidate and if she gets elected, a by-election will be held. The clarification came as some poll officials were earlier quoted as saying that the votes polled for the deceased candidate will be treated as votes cast for NOTA (None of the above) option. One of the officials had also stated that even if the deceased gets highest number of votes, the candidate with maximum number of votes among the remaining contestants will be declared elected. YSRCP has bagged 63 seats in 175 member assembly in Seemandhra. IANS