Electing Dy Mayor candidate sparks divide among alliance leaders

Visakhapatnam: In the process of vying for the post of Deputy Mayor of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), a divide appears to be apparent in the alliance.

Differences of opinion surfaced among alliance leaders as they could not agree with the selection of the Deputy Mayor candidate recommended by some of the key leaders of the party.

This was evident at the special meeting held at GVMC council hall for the election of the Deputy Mayor candidate.

The alliance, which worked as a team in unseating former Mayor Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari and former Deputy Mayor Jiyyani Sridhar and electing the new Mayor Peela Srinivasa Rao, however, did not unite in a similar fashion to elect the Deputy Mayor. An increased count of TDP and JSP candidates vying for the post was one of the main reasons sparking conflicts among the alliance party leaders.

While TDP State president and Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao recommended a candidate, Bheemunipatnam MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Visakhapatnam East constituency Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu also proposed candidates.

In addition, those who exited from the YSRCP and teamed up with JSP and the ones, who have been loyal to the party for quite a while, pinned hopes that the party high command would announce their names for the Deputy Mayor post.

With already Mayor’s seat allotted to the TDP candidate, JSP leaders expected that they would at least be given the Deputy Mayor post.

Following the TDP’s interference even for the Deputy Mayor post, the issue has been brought to the notice of the JSP and TDP high command.

As the party high command decided to consider JSP candidate Dalli Govind Reddy as the Deputy Mayor, some of the TDP members skipped to attend the special meeting scheduled on May 19. On April 28, the Mayor election was held with the consent of the alliance leaders. But the quorum required for the Deputy Mayor election has been impacted as those who aspired for the post did not attend the meeting.

As Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli MPs M Sribharat and CM Ramesh along with Bheemunipatnam MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao stayed away from attending the special meeting, it did spark a controversy among the political circles. Apparently, electing the Deputy Mayor candidate has not only led to a divide among the alliance leaders but also brewed differences of opinion among them.

Sharing his opinion, JSP Visakhapatnam South constituency MLA Vamsi Krishna Srinivas Yadav mentioned that the corporators have to adhere to the party high command’s decision.

“The party high command issued orders to vote D Govind Reddy as Deputy Mayor candidate and it has to be obeyed by the party leaders at any cost,” the MLA stressed.