Landslide for TDP-BJP combine in Kakinada

YSRCP wins 10 divisions; Congress, Left draw a blank

September 02, 2017 12:54 am | Updated 12:54 am IST - KAKINADA

Minister  K.S. Jawahar cutting a cake to celebrate the victory of the TDP in the Kakinada municipal  elections .

Minister K.S. Jawahar cutting a cake to celebrate the victory of the TDP in the Kakinada municipal elections .

The Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine won 35 of the 48 divisions in the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, while the YSR Congress Party made its presence felt in 10. Independent candidates won the remaining three divisions of the city.

The counting of votes commenced at the Rangaraya Medical College amid tight security at 8 a.m. on Friday and the first result was out in half an hour.

The TDP was confident about winning the KMC ever since the result of Nandyal Assembly bypoll was out. Even before counting commenced, Home Minister N. Chinna Rajappa’s office released his schedule that included participation in the party’s victory rally at 1 p.m. The celebrations, however, started much before the schedule with workers bursting firecrackers at the party office even as the counting was in progress.

The YSR Congress Party, that pinned all its hopes on the KMC result following the Nandyal outcome, was reviewing its poll strategy. It fielded its candidates in all the 48 divisions, but was able to win only 10. Choice of candidates and absence of coordination among the key leaders was said to be the reason for the debacle.

Party’s district unit president K. Kanna Babu made it clear that the YSRCP would continue to fight for the public and play the role of a responsible Opposition in the civic body. The Congress fielded its candidates from 17 divisions, but its vote share was quite negligible. In some divisions, the party nominees were unable to get double digit votes. Same was the case with the Left parties that were in the poll fray from four divisions.

Of the 48 divisions, the TDP fielded its candidates from 39 divisions and allocated the remaining to the BJP. While the TDP won 32 seats, the BJP candidates made it in three divisions. The three independents who won the seats were the rebels of the TDP and contested from the divisions allocated to the BJP.

City MLA from the TDP Vanamadi Venakteswara Rao’s two nephews contested the election of which Vanamadi Uma Shankar won. The party had already announced that the Mayor post would be allocated to a Kapu candidate. The post has been reserved for women and four candidates are in the race for the coveted post.

“We have sent the election result to the State Election Commission. A notification for conducting election to the Mayor’s post will be issued by the SEC in a day or two,” said Municipal Commissioner S. Aleem Basha.

A TDP nominee served as chairman of Kakinada municipality way back in 1987 and after a long gap of three decades, the party was voted back to power in the local body. Dedicating the victory to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Mr. Rajappa said that Kakinada residents cast their vote for development. “People are seeking development and they blessed us with the vote to continue our development agenda. The Opposition should learn a lesson that destructive politics are of no help,” he said. The Minister evaded direct response to a question on the incumbent for the Mayor’s post.

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