VISAKHAPATNAM: With the TDP, JSP and BJP clinching an alliance, the political equilibrium is likely to change in the erstwhile undivided Visakhapatnam district in the ensuing elections as the TDP and the BJP fared better in 2014, compared to 2019.
Visakhapatnam will be one of the major focus areas as all the major parties, including the TDP, JSP, and BJP assume they have bright chances to win more seats in the district. The alliance partners, who contested the last elections separately in the last elections, polled more votes than the ruling YSRC if the votes of all the three parties are combined.
The 2019 elections also witnessed high-profile battles as JSP chief Pawan Kalyan contested unsuccessfully from the Gajuwaka Assembly segment and former CBI Joint Director VV Lakshminarayana from Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency on JSP ticket. Owing to the multi-corner contest, the TDP lost the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat to the YSRC by less than 4,000 votes. Incidentally, when the TDP and BJP were in alliance, both parties got benefited and this was proved in 1999 and 2014.
In the 2019 elections, the YSRC juggernaut, which made a virtual clean sweep across the State, came to a halt in Visakhapatnam as the TDP bagged four Assembly seats in the city. But the YSRC won Bheemili, Pendurthi and Gajuwaka and also made a clean sweep in Anakapalle and Araku. The vote share of the three parties was more than the votes polled by the YSRC in the constituencies where the ruling party won.
YSRC nominee MVV Satyanarayana, who won from the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat, got a vote share of 35.24%, compared to 34.89% votes polled by TDP candidate Bharat Mathukumilli, and 23.3% by JSP nominee VV Lakshminarayana.
In Gajuwaka where Pawan Kalyan was defeated, the TDP and JSP put together polled 58% of votes totalling 1,15,181. In other constituencies also, the combined vote share of the opposition parties was more than the ruling YSRC.
After the tripartite alliance, TDP, BJP, JSP leaders are feeling elated as they exude confidence that they can repeat the magic of 2014 and form the government in the State.
Speaking to TNIE, P Vishnu Kumar Raju, who is most likely to contest from Vizag North as the BJP nominee, said, “The people are eagerly waiting for an alliance of the three parties. We are sure that AP will develop in the future after the tripartite alliance comes to power. The presence of BJP in the alliance will give a lot of confidence to investors, who are shying away from the State now.”
TDP district president Palla Srinivasa Rao said, “There is a positive wave in favour of the tripartite alliance. Most of the voters have already decided to show Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy the door in the forthcoming elections.”