A TDP MLA is in the dock following the gruesome murder of his younger brother, in an ugly fallout of panchayat poll politics in Andhra Pradesh. Yerra Jaganmohan, the brother of Jedcherla legislator Yerra Sekhar, was shot dead near the Devarakadra bus stand in the district last evening.

Unidentified assailants fired two rounds at him while he was having a cup of tea on his way back home. He collapsed and died instantly. The Mahaboobnagar police now suspects that Jaganmohan's brother Sekhar could have a role in the killing.

The two were at loggerheads for sometime now. Their differences reached a flashpoint after both men threw their hat into the ring for the panchayat elections. The race only heated up after their native village Pedda Chintakunta was reserved for backward castes.

Yerra Sekhar’s wife Bhavani had recently filed nomination papers for the impending election. Jaganmohan, who was equally powerful in the village, also had his wife file the nomination later. According to reports, Sekhar had been exerting pressure on Jaganmohan to get his wife to withdraw from the contest. But Jagan remained defiant till the very last.

Jagan’s wife alleged that Sekhar was behind her husband’s murder. Adding weight to the accusations, their sister Sridevi too pointed accusing fingers at her elder brother. She named Sekhar’s wife Bhavani and his brother-in-law as the co-accused in the conspiracy.

With the police going hot on his trail, speculation is rife that the MLA would surrender in Hyderabad. The Yerra family has been in active politics since 1980. Sekhar’s elder brother Yerra Satyam was elected from Jedcherla on a TDP ticket in 1994. Following his murder in 1996, Yerra Sekhar stepped into his shoes, winning the consequent by-elections.

The sibling rivalry over electoral politics leading to the murder of Jaganmohan has sent shockwaves across the district.