Visakhapatnam: Keen contest likely between YSRCP, TDP

Visakhapatnam: At a time when the City of Destiny is all set to become executive capital of the State, the post of Mayor is considered prestigious for the ruling party YSRCP as well as the TDP.

After a gap of over a dozen years, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) polls will be held on March 23. After merging Bheemunipatnam and Anakapalle areas in the GVMC limits, its purview has been expanded.

Keeping the limited time for the polls in view, the YSRCP and the TDP have commenced the exercise of contesting in the local body elections and eventually gain a grip over GVMC. Since a majority of funds to develop the urban limits trickle in from the corporation, both the parties are striving hard to make their presence felt in the ensuing polls.

The scope for getting the Mayor post appears to be wider for both the YSRCP as well the TDP. Having won a massive mandate in the generation elections, the YSRCP aims at a sweeping victory even in the local body polls.

Though the YSRCP had won 151 Assembly seats out of 175 across the State in the general elections, the TDP had managed to register victory in four Assembly constituencies that too in the heart of Visakhapatnam. Keeping this in view, the TDP leaders also appear to be confident enough to emerge victorious in the local body elections and also get the Mayor post.

In Visakhapatnam, there are four major constituencies – Visakhapatnam North, East, South and West. Of the 98 wards, close to 62 wards form a part of these four constituencies. If TDP could win in all the wards across these four constituencies, chances are wide that the party could bring GVMC under its ambit with ease.

At present, the parties are hunting for the potential BC candidate to vie for the Mayor post. Vamsi Krishna Yadav, Malla Vijaya Prasad and Dadi Ratnakar from the YSRCP appear to be in the race.

When it comes to TDP, sources said, former MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao has been approached by both the TDP and the YSRCP for the Mayor post. However, he had brushed aside the proposal. Apparently, the TDP is left with limited choice to hunt for another potential candidate. "A full-fledged exercise is going on to identify the right BC candidate for the Mayor post. However, there is no clarity on this till now," said TDP MLA P G V R Naidu (Gana Babu).

The TDP is paying special attention on selecting the potential BC candidates as corporators because one of them will become the Mayor in future.