Express News Service By

HYDERABAD: After a decade in wilderness, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is all set to sit on the chief minister’s gaddi for the third time — breaking his own record of having been the longest serving Telugu CM and what more, making history as the first CM of the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP-BJP combine swept the Assembly polls in Seemandhra, bagging 106 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha seats of the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the region. The TDP on its own won 102 Assembly seats, crossing the magic figure of 87, whereas the BJP pocketed four seats. The trend reflected in the recent results of the municipal/panchayat polls, where the TDP had outdone the YSRC, more or less continued in the Assembly polls. The Modi factor too appears to have added muscle to the TDP-BJP combine.

At one point, though, the YSRC had appeared to be neck and neck with the TDP, but as the counting of votes progressed, the latter raced ahead. What tilted the balance in favour of the TDP was its exceptional performance in Coastal Andhra districts, right from Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Krishna and Guntur to the twin Godavari districts. The TDP-BJP combine won all the 15 Assembly seats in West Godavari and walked away with a majority of seats in all the coastal districts. Contrary to its good performance in the panchayat polls where it was almost neck and neck with the TDP, the YSRC finished second with 67 seats. The fledgling party was able to secure eight LS seats. But, party honorary president Vijayamma lost the Visakhapatnam LS seat to BJP Seemandhra unit chief Kambhampati Haribabu.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu promised to transform the residual AP into Singapore with help from Narendra Modi. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was elected from Pulivendula Assembly segment, attributed TDP’s victory to the Modi wave and alleged Naidu hoodwinked voters with false promises.

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