YSRC expects clean sweep in municipalities, corporations

VIJAYAWADA: Expectations of impressive performances are high among all political parties, particularly with regard to their winning prospects in the municipality and corporation elections.

YSRC is hoping for a clean sweep in 12 municipal corporations and 71 municipalities while the main opposition Telugu Desam is equally hopeful of grabbing main municipalities and Corporations.

Most parties have unofficially conducted exit poll surveys and they are busy analyzing the results.

The opposition pinned hopes on Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur and Eluru Municipal Corporations due to the support of urban voters. However, the lower poll percentage is likely to throw up upsets.

YSRC, which initially expected a tough fight, is now confident of pocketing all 12 corporations. Worried by a tough fight in Vijayawada and Guntur municipal corporations, ministers Vellampalli Srinivas Rao, Botsa Satyanarayana and Kurasala Kannababu campaigned heavily to attract the voters.

They stated that N Chandrababu Naidu, despite being in power for five years, did not develop Vijayawada and Guntur cities in spite of portraying them as part of the new capital Amaravati. The leaders said that unofficial exit polls predicted that YSRC would make a clean sweep of the corporations and also bag 40-50 division in Vijayawada and Guntur municipal corporations.

Meanwhile, TD sources said that the opposition could win in Visakhapatnam, Eluru, Vijayawada and Guntur Municipal Corporations, according to private surveys and ground reports. They also expect 25 to 35 municipalities due to the TD wave in north Andhra, the Godavari districts and Krishna and Guntur districts. Party leaders said that alliance with CPI party and cooperation of other leaders have brightened the winning chances of TD in Urban Local Body polls.

Ministers Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao, Srinivas Rao, Perni Venkataramaiah, Kannababu and Satyanarayana claimed that their welfare schemes and development activities touched the masses and they were keen on voting for YSRC candidates.

Meanwhile, each party is claiming supremacy in the GVMC polls that were conducted on Wednesday. The results will be announced on March 14. The corporation has 98 divisions spread over from Bheemili to Anakapalle

General secretary of the district unit of TD, Pasarla Prasad, said that the party candidates fared well in the four Assembly segments that are represented by the TD. Visakhapatnam South MLA, however, switched his loyalty to YSRC recently.

Surprisingly the party did extremely well in Gajuwaka, said to be YSRC bastion under the leadership of MLA Tippala Nagi Reddy, and is likely to win 12 divisions. The hunger-strike launched by former MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao against VSP privatisation boosted the party image, Prasad said.

He said that the party would win 10 in Visakhapatnam West, where senior leader PVGR Naidu was on hectic campaigning. Similarly, it expects 10 divisions in Visakhapatnam East where the local MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishnababu was arrested by the police for preventing rigging by YSRC leaders.

In Visakhapatnam South even after the MLA Vasupalle Ganesh Kumar moved to YSRC, the TD gained supremacy and is likely to win in eight divisions. In Visakhapatnam North, the party is likely to win in only six divisions as local MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao stayed away from the.

We will win five in Pendurthi and six in Bhimili. In all we will win in 50 divisions and the mayor will be from Telugu Desam,’’ Prasad said.

Similarly the YSRC in a social media release said it will win 63 divisions and two rebels would support them taking the total to 65 divisions. It also said TD will win in 16 divisions and give tough fight in 13 divisions. Similarly, Jana Sena/BJP combine will win in four divisions and CPI in one division, the release said.