Expenses Worry as Government Decides on Direct Election of Urban Local Body Chiefs
The backward classes will have 33.33 per cent reservations in the direct elections too.
Anantapur:Expenses have become a worry for leaders with no deep pockets after the state government announced its decision to conduct direct elections for the posts of mayors and municipal chairpersons in urban local bodies (ULBs).
The backward classes will have 33.33 per cent reservations in the direct elections too.
Under the earlier system, corporators and councillors elected the mayors and municipal chairpersons, whether of the municipal corporations, municipalities, or nagar panchayats.
Analysts say this will render the local body elections highly expensive, similar to the general elections for the State Legislative Assembly and the Lok Sabha. Some of the aspirants for top posts would even end up footing the bill for corporators and ward members who would subsequently support them.
Analysts observe that this will make the local body elections out of reach of the marginal people. Only candidates with a good financial background will be able to spend money. Even political parties will choose candidates who can afford to spend money on their election.
In the Rayalaseema region, Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa, Tirupati, and Chittoor cities have corporations, while district headquarters are listed as special category municipalities and grade one municipalities.
TD general secretary Nara Lokesh, during his series of meetings with party cadres of Anantapur, Kadapa, and Kurnool, stressed the need to conquer local bodies as all the corporations. Majority of the municipalities in the last ULB elections had been captured by the YSRC.
Direct elections for the chief of corporations and municipalities will be a challenge for the TD MLAs in Anantapur, Kadapa, Kurnool, and Tirupati. This is because they will face tough competition from the opposition YSRC. Further, Telugu Desam will have to share the posts with its allied parties Jana Sena and BJP.
Significantly, YSRC has no MLAs but only party in-charges to lead the direct polls in the Rayalaseema region. A senior leader of YSRC from Anantapur corporation observed that election expenditure will be a big issue, even though the opposition party has a strong hold over the majority of divisions. There is also dissidence within the TD leaders.
Former MLA V. Prabhakar Chowdary has differences with Anantapur Urban MLA D. Prasad. In Kadapa, TD politburo member R. Srinvasulu Reddy and his wife Madhavi, Kadapa MLA, will face a tough competition in YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s home district.
