VISAKHAPATNAM: The YSRC has come out with flying colours in the GVMC elections by winning a majority of the seats. The ruling party also made inroads into strongholds of the TDP in Visakhapatnam North, West and East. The party won 90 per cent of seats in the three constituencies.
The TDP, which has been struggling to retain its hold since the 2019 polls after several leaders, including south MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar deserted the party, put up a good show in Gajuwaka, Pendurthi, Bheemili and Visakhapatnam South. The TDP won two thirds of 30 wards from these areas where the YSRC has its MLAs. However, the party won only five seats in zones IV and V, which have 36 seats. The Centre’s move to privatise the steel plant had a bearing on the chances of the YSRC in Gajuwaka and Pendurthi, sources said.
The BJP-Jana Sena alliance managed to win four seats. The alliance could have won some more seats, but the steel plant issue believed to have affected its prospects. The BJP had to contend with one seat.The YSRC made a clean sweep of wards in zone IV and V, which account for almost 50 per cent of the total seats. The YSRC made inroads where the polling percentage was below 50 per cent. In contrast, the TDP fared better in the areas where the polling percentage crossed 60 per cent with an exception in Anakapalle, where the ruling party won four out of five seats.
YSRC approach
The YSRC has been nursing Vizag after the 2019 general elections as its juggernaut was stopped in the city where it lost all four seats to the TDP. Party MP V Vijayasai Reddy, who is the in-charge of YSRC in north Andhra, led the campaign from the front. His ‘Maha Padayatra’ from Gandhi statue at GVMC office to Kurmannapalem has helped the party kick-start its campaign ahead of other parties. Further, Vijayasai covered slum areas and struck an instant chord with the residents, promising to solve their problems. The GVMC elections were suspended along with other ULBs just after filing of nominations last year due to the Covid pandemic.
The YSRC candidates, who were already in the thick of the campaign, continued to visit wards and distributed sanitisers, masks and essentials during the lockdown to stay in touch with people. The election results proved that the sustained approach of the YSRC yielded rich dividends.
Party issues in TDP
The TDP struggled to keep its flock together and suffered a setback when its south MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, who was also party city president, pledged support to the YSRC six months ago. Besides, the TDP has to continue with the candidates, who were chosen when Ganesh Kumar was the party’s city president. However, the party prospects improved when party urban president Palla Srinivasa Rao went on an indefinite strike on the steel plant issue. The TDP left two seats, one each to CPI and CPM, which both the parties won. However, the left parties contested in 23 other wards, leading to division of votes.
Clean sweep in North Andhra
The YSRC made a clean sweep in north Andhra as the party won all ULBs in three north coastal Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam. The party won the Vizianagaram corporation by winning 48 of 50 wards