Vijayawada: YSRCP sweeps civic polls

Vijayawada: The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Sunday won a landslide victory in the urban local body elections in Andhra Pradesh. It won 11 out of 12 municipal corporations and over 65 municipalities out of 71.

The YSRCP attributed this victory to good governance of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The party leaders said the resolute mandate reflects the endorsement of people's faith.

The groundswell of support is an acknowledgment of policies of the Government and has blown the Opposition away even before it could feel the wind, they said.

Among the prestigious municipal corporations it had won were Vijayawada, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, Guntur Municipal Corporation and Tirupati Municipal Corporation. The YSRCP cadre celebrated the victory of the candidates in the State by distributing sweets and greeting the winners. The YSRCP had recently won a majority of gram panchayats in the elections and the winning spree continues, the leaders said.

The ruling party had bagged municipalities and corporations from Srikakulam to Anantapur in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. The Telugu Desam Party stood in the second place in the municipal elections. The impact of shifting of capital from Amaravati to Vizag and other issues like rising prices of essential commodities, rise of petrol/ diesel prices, Vizag Steel Plant privatisation and other issues apparently did not have any impact on the voters of Vijayawada, Vizag and Guntur.

In the Visakhapatnam Greater Municipal Corporation elections, the YSRCP won a clear majority. Of the 98 wards, the YSRCP won in 58, while the TDP won in 30 wards. Jana Sena Party bagged three divisions, BJP one, Independents four, CPI and CPM one each.

In Guntur, the YSRCP won the Guntur Municipal Corporation, Tenali, Repalle, Chilakaluripet, Sattenapalli and Vinukonda municipalities.

In Chittoor district, the ruling YSRCP made a clean sweep by winning the two corporations and four municipalities.

In Krishna district, it bagged Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, Nuzvid and Pedana municipalities, three Nagara Panchayats of Nandigama, Vuyyuru and Tiruvuru.

In West Godavari district, the YSRCP candidates won 91 municipal wards against the elections held for 111 wards in the municipalities of Narasapuram, Nidadavolu, Jangareddygudem and Kovvuru.

The TDP candidates won in 12 municipal wards, Jana sena candidates in five wards, BJP candidate in one ward and two independents won the elections. In East Godavari district too, YSRCP gave an impressive performance.

In Prakasam district, the YSRCP has won in all urban local bodies. The party has won Ongole Municipal Corporation, Chirala and Markapuram Municipalities along with the Addanki, Chimakurthy, Giddalur and Kanigiri Nagar Panchayats with a clear majority. In Kurnool district, the YSRCP won all seven municipalities.

The Opposition TDP had won Mydukuru Municipality in a tug-of-war with the ruling party. Jana Sena Party, which contested elections with the electoral alliance of BJP, secured only one ward in the Mydukuru municipality.