KAKINADA: A tough ballot battle is on cards for the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, which is going for elections after a long time. TDP and YSRC, the principal contenders in the ballot battle of Kakinada, are taking the elections as a prestige issue and striving hard to prove their dominance. The Nandyal by-election is being considered as the litmus test for both ruling and opposition parties to gauge their popularity in the State, especially in Rayalaseema. Similarly, Kakinada civic polls is similarly being treated as an important test to determine the mood of the voters.
In the 2014 general election, the twin Godavari districts had given an overwhelming majority to the ruling TDP. Has the situation changed now after three and half years? The KMC civic poll verdict is expected to give an answer. Perhaps, considering the importance of Kakinada civic polls, the TDP and the YSRC have deployed their top leaders to woo the voters. After Nandyal by-election on August 24, the focus was shifted to the KMC polls.
The coastal city is going for civic polls after a gap of 12 years. The last time the election was held in 2005, just one year after Kakinada was upgraded as Municipal Corporation. After the elected body completed its full term in 2010, no election was held. Since then, it was special officers regime. However, people of the coastal city were not satisfied and wanted to have an elected body in place. After all, it is only with the elected body at the helm of affairs, the vial Central funding can be ensured.
Kakinada, the district headquarters of East Godavari district, is an important city in Andhra Pradesh after Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati. It has second big sea port, an anchorage port and an under-construction greenfield seaport. The coastal city is an important commercial hub after Visakhapatnam and in coming days, it will play an important role in the economic progress of the State.
It will be part of Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor, part of Petrochemical Corridor, will have Special Economic Zone, will have hardware city, will have LNG terminal, will be hub of national-level educational institutions, will be starting point of inland waterways in the State. However, with no elected body, people have no say in the matters of how the city has to progress, hence a few individuals had taken legal recourse.