VIJAYAWADA: Taking the first election it is facing after the drubbing in the recent polls seriously, the YSRC has decided to field senior leader and former minister Botcha Satyanarayana for the byelection to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council from the United Visakhapatnam Local Authorities Constituency. The bypoll was necessitated as Vamsi Krishna Yadav was disqualified as an MLC under the anti-defection law after he quit the YSRC and joined the Jana Sena Party. However, Vamsi Krishna was elected to the State Assembly from Visakhapatnam South constituency on JSP ticket.
The Local Authorities Constituency has 841 votes, including Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) corporators, councillors of Yelamanchili and Narsipatnam municipalities, MPTC and ZPTC members and 11 ex-officio members. The byelection will be held on August 30.
Though the YSRC has numbers on its side, it is fearing poaching from the ruling TDP-JSP-BJP combine. The YSRC has a strength of 615, compared to 215 of the NDA in the segment. It is to be seen whether the YSRC can keep its flock together and pull out a victory in the bypoll. More than 10 GVMC corporators of the YSRC have already shifted their loyalties, and joined the TDP and JSP in recent weeks. There are reports that nearly 15-20 YSRC corporators may join either the TDP or the JSP in the coming days. Hence, YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a meeting with the party corporators on Thursday, and reportedly asked them not to get lured by the ruling TDP-JSP-BJP combine.
According to sources, the YSRC leadership initially considered the candidature of former ministers Gudivada Amarnath or Budi Mutyala Naidu, or Kola Guruvulu for the bypoll. However, they are said to be reluctant to enter the poll fray. Guruvulu contested the MLC election under the MLA quota, but lost due to cross-voting by four YSRC rebel MLAs. Being a senior politician, Botcha has considerable influence in the North Coastal Andhra as he hails from the dominant Turpu Kapu community. On Friday, Jagan finalised the candidature of Botcha for the MLC bypoll after holding discussions with the party leaders from the erstwhile Visakhapatnam district. He stressed the need for effective coordination between the party rank and file to ensure the victory of the party candidates in the bypoll.
The TDP is likely to field former MLA Gandi Babji or Seethamraju Sudhakar, who joined the party before the elections, for the post. Both Babji and Sudhakar failed to get TDP tickets in the Assembly elections. The ruling party is keen on winning the MLC byelection to increase its tally in the Legislative Council for the passage of bills. It has already increased its strength in the Council by winning two MLC seats under the MLA quota.