Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who was named in the Delhi excise scam case secured a significant victory against YSRCP’s Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy with a margin of 50,473 votes. Sreenivasulu polled 64,7138 votes in total while Chevireddy Bhaskar who is a two time MLA from Chandragiri in Tirupati district, polled 59,6665 votes.
Sreenivasulu Reddy and his son, Raghava Reddy who own Balaji Distilleries, were named in the Delhi liquor scam case. They were accused of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Raghava was arrested by the ED in February 2023. As he turned an approver in the case, he was pardoned in October.
Based on statements provided by Raghava and other approvers, the ED expanded its investigation, resulting in the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha.
Meanwhile, Raghava managed to secure an anticipatory bail in the same case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February.
Sreenivasulu Reddy has been affiliated with different parties in his political journey over the past two decades. Initially elected to the Lok Sabha from Ongole on a Congress ticket in 1998, 2004, and 2009, he later joined the TDP after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh but lost in the 2014 general elections. He then shifted to the YSRCP and won in 2019. However, after being denied a ticket for the 2024 general election, he returned to the TDP, which is in alliance with the National Democratic alliance led by the BJP.