Visakhapatnam: Winning the North Andhra graduates’ constituency has come as a shot in the arm for the BJP which is looking at consolidating its base in the state. The saffron party had left no stone unturned to win the election. Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and state ministers like Dr Kamineni Srinivas Rao and Mr P. Manikyala Rao (both BJP), Mr Ayyanna Patrudu, Mr Ganta Srinivasa Rao (TD) had campaigned vigorously for Mr Madhav.
The TD’s support in rural tracts also helped Mr Madhav win the election. The win has come at a time when TD candidates in other graduates' and teachers' constituencies lost their poll. The win will also help BJP to bargain for a higher share of seats in the polls for Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation which is due since some years. It will also help the party to consolidate in Vizag, which is the largest urban area in the state.
The Vizag Lok Sabha constituency is represented by BJP state president Kambhampati Haribabu. With Mr Madhav's election, the party has an MLC apart from an MLA from the region. The BJP leaders considered the highest number of votes polled in Vizag district as an advantage. Graduate voters had also rejected the campaign by Opposition parties that the ruling parties failed in achieving separate railway zone with Vizag as headquarters.
