Telugu Desam, YSRC Raise Heat for Local Body Polls

Anantapur:The heat of the local body elections began building up across the state as the tenure of these entities would end in a week’s time.

As a majority of the municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats were won by YSRC for five years during the YSRC term, the TD and its allies were building pressure against that party’s mayors and municipal chairpersons. Even during the past two years when the TD-led alliance ruled the state, council meetings were tense in many local bodies.

There were changes of mayors and municipal chairpersons in several civic bodies, but these were between the YSRC representatives. For instance, Kadapa’s Suresh Babu had to lose the Mayor post following disqualification after a case against his family members getting contract works in KMC arose. He also had differences with TD MLA R Madhavi over providing a chair to her on the dais during corporation meetings.

In the Hindupur special grade municipality, a similar situation arose as the Telugu Desam was unable to get the chairperson seat due to lack of a majority in the council. In Anantapur, a tussle erupted between the YSRC Mayor Vasim and urban MLA D Prasad of the Telugu Desam over resolutions and sanctioning of development works.

In Anantapur, only two TD corporators had won while the rest of the seats went to the YSRC. The Telugu Desam succeeded in getting the chairman post of the Madakasira Nagar Panchayat by getting eight councillors of the YSRC to its side. A no confidence motion was three months ago.

A similar situation arose at several mandals over the introduction of a no-confidence motion against YSRC MPPs. Tense situations developed at the faction-hit mandal of Ramgiri when the Telugu Desam tried to get the MPP seat with the help of a few MPTC members of the YSRC.

A senior MLA from Anantapur district said, “Even as we were ruling the civic body for the last two years, we couldn't have proper hold on the corporations and municipalities because a majority of the members were of the YSRC”.

The government on Tuesday appointed special officers to administer 86 urban local bodies across the state as the terms of the elected municipal bodies were set to end soon.

The special officers have been appointed to 11 municipal corporations and 75 municipalities/nagar panchayats across the state. The appointments would remain in force for six months or until newly elected municipal bodies take charge, whichever is earlier.

The Telugu Desam aims to improve party positions in the ULBs in the coming six months of the special officer rule, and hold a majority of them. The TD, Janasena and the BJP have a majority of the MLAs with them across the state.

YSRC district unit president Ananta Venkatrami Reddy has observed that the people were vexed with the TD-led government’s rule in the last two years. "Even if they try to grab ULBs by using power, people will teach them a lesson", he opined.