Kakinada:The United Teachers’ Federation (UTF) candidate Borra Gopi Murthy won the bye-election of the teachers' MLC constituency in Godavari districts by gaining 9,165 votes. The constituency is comprised of East Godavari, West Godavari, Kakinada, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema districts and Rampachodvaram assembly constituency including Chinturu division and Eluru district excluding Nuzvid division.
The election was conducted due to the demise of Shaik Sabji (UTF candidate) two years back. The contesting candidate, Gandham Narayana Rao, who also contested against Shaik Sabji previously, was defeated this time too. He could secure 5,259 votes. The other contesting candidates Deepak Pulugu got 102 votes, Dr Nageswara Rao Kavala got 73 votes and Namana Venkata Lakshmi (Villa Lakshmi) secured 81 votes. A total of 15,494 votes were polled, out of which 14,780 were valid and 814 were invalid.
The counting was held in the presence of the election observer K. Harshavardhan, election returning officer and district collector S. Shan Mohan, joint collector Rahul Meena and DSP Vikrant Patil at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Library ground floor on Monday from 8 am to 1 pm. Returning officer Shan Mohan declared the results and handed over the winning certificate to Gopi Murthy.
Talking to the media, Gopi Murthy said he would strive to solve the problems of the teachers and the students in the Legislative Council. He is going to participate in the agitation, demanding the abolition of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) Vijayawada on Tuesday. Gopi Murthy has more than 12 years of service in the teaching field. He resigned from his teaching position to go to the Council.
He said the UTF-supported candidates would win the graduate constituency elections of the Godavari districts and Krishna and Guntur districts in March 2025 as the UTF could go for elections in a planned manner. Many teachers, teacher union leaders, CPM leaders, SFI leaders and others congratulated Gopi Murthy on his victory.
