VIJAYAWADA: The by-election to Badvel Assembly constituency (SC reserved) in Kadapa district will be held on October 30. The Model Code of Conduct has come into force. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting YSRC MLA G Venkatasubbaiah in March this year.
Though the bypoll may be a cakewalk for the ruling party as Badvel is considered to be a YSRC bastion, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, party general secretary, on Tuesday said, “We take every election as a performance appraisal of the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government.” Sajjala said it is a common practice that Opposition parties do not contest a seat, which falls vacant due to the death of a sitting MLA to facilitate the unanimous election of a family member of the deceased.
“If Opposition parties field their candidates, we will take the by-poll seriously,’’ he said and announced that Venkatasubbaiah’s wife Dr Dasari Sudha will contest the bypoll on YSRC ticket. He felt that there is no scope for any decline in the popularity of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and the YSRC’s good show in all the elections that held after 2019 is an indication of it.
The opposition TDP has fielded Dr Obulapuram Rajasekhar as its candidate. Dr Rajasekhar, who hails from Chennareddypalle in Kalasapadu mandal, worked as an orthopaedist in the government hospital in Badvel for 18 years.
He unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in 2019 as a TDP candidate against Venkatasubbaiah.
Badvel is going to the bypoll for the second time in its history. The then MLA B Veera Reddy of TDP died in December, 2000. In the subsequent by-election, his daughter K Vijayamma won on TDP ticket against Dr Sivaramakrishna Rao of the Congress.
During delimitation in 2009, Badvel constituency was reserved for SCs. The Election Commission of India on Tuesday said the bypoll notification would be issued on October 1 and counting of votes would be taken up on November 2. The Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the entire Kadapa district with the announcement of Badvel bye-election date, Joint Collector (Revenue) M Gautami said.
The Joint Collector directed officials to remove photos of political leaders in government offices and flexes and hoardings of political parties, besides covering the statues of political leaders in public places. The ongoing schemes can be continued but no new schemes should be launched. The electoral rolls published on January 1, 2021 will be used to prepare the voters’ list.