VIJAYAWADA: The ruling YSRC, which completed the clean sweep by winning the Eluru Municipal Corporation (EMC) election emphatically, has not just bagged all the 12 municipal corporations for which elections were held on March 10, but improved its vote share by more than 11 per cent in the EMC limits compared to the Assembly polls held in 2019.
At the same time, the opposition TDP’s vote share shrunk by more than 14 per cent in the civic poll. Of the total 1.32 lakh votes polled in the EMC election, the YSRC got 74,854 votes accounting for 56.43 per cent of ballots.In the Assembly elections held on April 11, 2019, the ruling party secured 44.73 per cent of the total 1.62 lakh votes polled in the limits of EMC. It means the YSRC has improved its vote share by more than 11 per cent in the EMC limits in less than two years.
On the other hand, the TDP secured 68,175 votes in the Assembly elections in the EMC limits, securing a share of 42.21 per cent of the total ballots. Now, the vote share of TDP had declined to 28.2 per cent. The BJP contested the municipal elections in alliance with the Jana Sena Party. Its vote share increased to 2.15 per cent in the civic body election from 0.6 per cent in Assembly polls. The vote share of its alliance partner came down to 5.58 per cent in the election from 10.33 per cent in Assembly polls. It may be noted that the two parties contested separately in the Assembly elections.
The TDP suffered a jolt even as some leaders had openly announced their support to the strong Jana Sena Party candidates ahead of the municipal election.Commenting on the party improving its vote share in the municipal corporation election, YSRC general secretary and Government Advisor (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Monday said the increase in vote share was not just in the EMC poll, but also in the bypoll to Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency.
Sajjala gives credit to govt,TD alleges poll ‘irregularities’
“It clearly reflects that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has got the trust of people. The YSRC came to power with a positive vote share of nearly 50 per cent in the general elections and it could get more vote share even after two years, which shows that there is no anti-incumbency against the government,’’ he asserted. Sajjala said the TDP made all out efforts to win the urban local body elections, but it was the YSRC which got the people’s mandate. “This is because of pro-people governance of Jagan Mohan Reddy,’’ he said.
TDP Politburo member Varla Ramaiah, however, countered Sajjala saying that the YSRC should make his MPs resign for the cause of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and seek fresh mandate if it is confident of its ‘good governance.’ “Elections to local bodies were not held in a peaceful manner. It is to everyone’s knowledge that the elections were won by the ruling YSRC using coercive methods,’’ he said.
Mayor post for BC woman
YSRC general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Monday announced that the party will field a BC woman belonging to Dudekula caste for the Mayor post of Eluru, for which election will be held on July 30