With the conclusion of the gram panchayat and ward member elections, the stage is now set for the much-awaited elections to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).
The corporation will be going to polls after 14 years, with the last election being held in February 2007. With the YSR Congress Party going to corporation polls for the first time, things are hotting up in the city.
With the YSRCP outsmarting arch rival TDP in the gram panchayat elections, it is a do-or-die battle for the TDP in the GVMC polls.
In 2007, the TDP was edged out by the Congress with a margin of about four seats. This time, the TDP will be fighting the YSRCP, which is currently riding the waves.
The advantage that the TDP got is that in the last Assembly elections in 2019, the party won four of seven constituencies, and the all four are in GVMC limits. But the question is whether its elected MLAs would be able to capitalise on it.
Already Visakhapatnam (South) TDP MLA Vasupalli Ganesh has expressed his affinity towards the YSRCP and is campaigning for the party, and Visakhapatnam (North) TDP MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao had recently forwarded his resignation letter to the Speaker. The other two party MLAs are Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu from Visakhapatnam East and P.G.V.R. Naidu (Gana Babu) from Visakhapatnam (West).
The civic body election is quite different to other elections. Here, the corporators are directly in touch with the people of the respective wards on a daily basis.
Time gap
But the time gap of 14 years has distanced many of them from the voters, and there has been a communication gap.
In ward elections, the reputation of the corporator and his past service record work well. But due to the time gap and the council being dissolved 14 years ago, there is a void between the elected representative and the electorate, which has to be re-established again, said a former TDP corporator.
The YSRCP on the other hand not only enjoys the advantage of being the ruling party, but has also been among people with its numerous welfare schemes.
With the impact of the Congress, the BJP-JSP combine and Left parties being doubtful, it is an all-out battle between YSRCP and the TDP.
The number of wards have gone up to 98 from 72, after delimitation and this has shrunk the electorate in a number of wards, and poll analysts say that it might give the YSRCP an edge.
As per the revised delimitation, 90 wards have been carved out for 15 lakh population and eight wards have been earmarked for remaining four lakh people with 50,000 per ward.
The total electorate as per the March 2020 list is 17.52 lakh, including 8.73 lakh women and 126 people belonging to the third gender.
The total number of nominations filed are 1,361, ballot boxes assigned are 2,200 and polling stations are 1,712.
Of the 98 wards, 27 are unreserved, 29 are for women (general), 17 are BC (general), 16 BC (women), 4 SC (general), 4 SC (women) and 1 ST (general).
