Gunda Lakshmi Devi Set to Switch to YSRCP and Contest Srikakulam Mayoral Race

Former TDP MLA Gunda Lakshmi Devi will join the YSR Congress Party on Thursday, Oct 22, 2026, in the presence of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, and is being lined up as the mayoral candidate for the Srikakulam Municipal Corporation, where elections are due in about two months pending legal clearance. The joining ceremony is scheduled to take place in Tadepalli near Vijayawada. Lakshmi Devi previously defeated former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao in the 2014 Assembly election but lost to him in the 2019 contest. She also lost the TDP ticket for the 2024 general election, and the party later said it could not give her the mayoral ticket. Her husband, Suryanarayana, died a year ago. After discussions with her loyal leaders, she decided to move to YSRCP at the request of Prasada Rao, who had earlier served as Srikakulam MLA in 2004 and 2009, beating TDP nominee Gunda Appala Suryanarayana. ## Context The shift reflects the YSRCP’s strategy to attract seasoned local leaders ahead of the upcoming municipal polls, a common move in Andhra Pradesh politics when parties seek to consolidate voter bases before elections.