Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had devised a scheme for the party leaders to win the Visakhapatnam local bodies MLC election. The election is scheduled to be held on August 30. The election was required following disqualification of YSR Congress MLC Srinivasa Varma who defected to the Jana Sena party just before the 2024 general elections.
There are 838 votes from the MPTCs, ZPTCs, municipal councilors and corporators in the undivided Visakhapatnam district. This is now extended to Araku, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Visakhapatnam districts. The TDP has over 200 votes, while the YSR Congress has more than 600 votes.
The opposition YSR Congress had announced the name of former minister Botsa Satyanarayana. The TDP is yet to announce the name. The TDP is holding a meeting with the party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and politburo members on naming the candidate for the MLC election.
The TDP had won the standing committee elections in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation with defections from the YSR Congress. About five corporators from the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation have already defected to the Jana Sena. Another five have defected to the TDP.
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The TDP wants to get at least 105 votes to win the elections. The TDP leaders have set their eyes on the MPTCs, ZPTCs, councilors and corporators ahead of the election. The party is luring local body members from the YSR Congress.
Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu had made minister for agriculture K Atchennaidu as the incharge of the election. He had also appointed incharges for the Assembly constituencies and had asked the MLAs to monitor the election. The MLAs from the undivided Visakhapatnam district are also monitoring the election and setting their eyes on the YSR Congress members.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is holding meetings with the party members from Visakhapatnam district. He is talking to the members individually. He is meeting the YSR Congress local bodies members from two to three Assembly constituencies every day at his Tadepalli camp office.
It is to be seen how the TDP and the YSR Congress handle this election. This is the first election in the state after the 2024 general election.
