TDP-led alliance sets its sights on GVMC standing panel polls

Keen on gaining control over the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) after a landslide victory in the general elections, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led alliance sets its sights on the corporation standing committee polls for which notification was issued recently.

With a view to making a clean sweep of the standing panel polls, leaders of the alliance have swung into action and initiated ‘operation aakarsh’ to woo the corporators from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) who have been lying low after the crushing defeat of the party in the May elections. Seeing no greener pastures in the demoralised YSRCP, party corporators have started switching their loyalties and sporting ‘yellow kanduva’ as it looks more brightful now.

Already as many as seven YSRCP corporators have defected to the TDP and more are likely to join either the TDP or the Jana Sena Party (JSP) in the coming days.

With the joining of the seven corporators, the strength of the TDP in the corporation goes up to 37 and that of YSRCP comes down to 50. While the JSP has three corporators, the BJP, the CPI(M) and the CPI have one each, one post has fallen vacant following the election of Vamsikrishna Srinivas to the Assembly. He won the corporation election on the YSRCP ticket and quit it to join the JSP before the general elections. Independents had won four seats of the total strength of 98 in the GVMC.

According to alliance leaders, they will get the required number by the polling date to make a sweep of the standing committee elections. However, some TDP and JSP leaders are strongly opposing the entry of the YSRCP corporators.

The standing committee elections for GVMC will be held on 7 August and the results announced the same day. Nominations will be received up to 30 July and their scrutiny will be taken up on 31 July. The last date for withdrawal of papers is 3 August. With only ten daya left for the crucial elections, the city is likely to witness an interesting political activity in the coming days.

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This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu