YSRCP's Maddila Gurumoorthy Wins Tirupati Lok Sabha Constituency(image@GuruMYSRCP)

This year, the major battle in Tirupati was between YSRCP’s Maddila Gurumoorthy, the sitting MP of Tirupati, and BJP’s Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli. Notably, Gurumoorthy has won the seat in both 2019 Lok Sabha election, and the subsequent by-poll in 2021, with a margin of over 2 lakh votes. This year too, Gurumoorthy won the seat with the margin of 14,569 votes. Tirupati is among the four seats, YSRCP managed to win this year.

Commonly known as Andhra Pradesh’s Temple town, Tirupati is one of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. The constituency witnessed a high-voltage electoral battle, with Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP (Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party), and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), led NDA (National Democratic Alliance), which include Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Jana Sena Party (JSP).

YSRCP was the front runner since formation, while Congress played the role of an inconsequential player here. Since the formation of the constituency, Indian National Congress kept strong hold on the seat, with BJP and TDP clinching victory once. However, since 2014, YSRCP swept over the seat, asserting a strong grip.

In 2014, Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli won the seat on YSRCP ticket, by defeating Kurumanchi Jayaram of BJP. He quit the party two months ago and joined BJP. For Gurumoorthy, the first election to contest was the 2021 by-poll, in which he clinched victory with a comfortable margin.