India: YSR Congress sweeps local body polls in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Ruling YSR Congress party has swept the municipal elections in Andhra Pradesh wiping out all the rival parties including the main opposition Telugu Desam and the BJP.

Counting of votes was taken up on Sunday morning after ballot papers were cast on Wednesday in what was seen a mini general election.

With the YSRCP bagging all the three big corporations Vijaywada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, and 9 other corporations and winning 74 out of 75 municipalities, it was clear that after two years of rule the popularity of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy remains unaffected.

Vote counting did not take place in Eluru Municipal Corporation due to the stay order of the High Court.

Big setback

The election results came as a big setback to the main opposition Telugu Desam Party of Nara Chandrababu Naidu as well as the alliance of the BJP and Jana Sena Party of film star Pavan Kalyan. Congress, as usual remained on the margins of the state politics.

YSRCP also retained its hold over YSR family fiefdom Kadapa where the party won 48 out of 50 seats in Corporation. While TDP bagged one, another went to an independent. BJP and Congress drew a blank.

YSR Congress leaders describing the poll outcome a “historic victory” said that the entire credit of the sweep goes to the welfare schemes of the Chief Minister.

The municipal elections were marred by the continuous clash between the State Election Commission and the state government over the poll schedule and other issues. However the SEC had its way with Supreme Court ruling in its favor.

Plan changed

The elections in commercial capital of the state Vijaywada and Guntur were keenly watched to see whether the issue of under construction capital of Amarvati would have any impact on the people’s mood in these cities adjoining the capital.

In a big setback to the status of Amarvati as the state capital, Jagan government had changed the plan and decentralized the capital to three cities of Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Amaravati. The results indicate that the issue did not have much of an impact on the people.

In an indication of dwindling clout of Chandrababu Naidu, TDP failed to score any big win in his own home district of Chittoor.