MLC bypolls in AP: TDP-led NDA opts out of race; YSRCP likely to retain seat
The decision was taken by TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu after brainstorming with leaders of his party and alliance partners.
The Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance government in Andhra Pradesh has decided against contesting the bye-elections to the state legislative council from combined Visakhapatnam local bodies’ constituency, comprising Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle and Alluri Sitarama Raju districts, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday.
The decision was taken by TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu after brainstorming with leaders of his party and alliance partners – the Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Naidu conveyed his decision to party leaders through a teleconference on Tuesday morning.
The decision has cleared the decks for the election of senior YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader and former minister Botsa Satyanarayana as the member of the state legislative council (MLC); he filed his nomination papers on Monday.
Independent candidate Sheik Shafiqullah also filed his nomination papers on Monday. While the scrutiny of papers will be done on August 14, the last date for withdrawal of nominations is August 16. The polling will be done, if necessary, on August 30 and the counting of votes will happen on September 3.
The bye-election to the MLC seat was necessitated following the disqualification of sitting MLC Ch Vamsi Krishna in March this year after his defection to the Jana Sena Party. He was later elected to the state assembly on a Jana Sena ticket from Visakhapatnam South constituency in the May 13 elections.
A senior TDP leader, who did not want to be quoted, said Naidu took this decision considering that the NDA doesn’t have enough numbers to win.
“Out of 838 electors, comprising municipal corporators, municipal councillors, zilla parishad and mandal parishad members, in the combined Visakhapatnam district local authorities’ constituency, the YSRCP has 530 votes. The TDP-Jana Sena-BJP combine had only 210 seats and could increase its tally to around 300 after some of the electors defected to the NDA partners. It would require another 120 electors, which is highly unlikely,” the TDP leader cited above said.
The leaders further said that right from the day of announcement of the schedule last month, YSRCP president and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy played his cards diligently to prevent defection of the electors from his party to NDA allies.
“He selected a seasoned politician like Botsa Satyanarayana as the party candidate for the MLC seat as the latter has a lot of clout in north Andhra. Secondly, the YSRCP chief took all precautions to keep the flock together by shifting his party electors to various camps, including Bengaluru and other parts of north India, so that they would not be accessible to the NDA allies,” the TDP leader quoted above said.
“Winning election is not a big issue, but the alliance will act with dignity,” the TDP leader said, quoting Naidu.