TDP-led NDA wins 52 of 61 declared wards in Visakhapatnam municipal polls

The alliance of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won a clear majority of the wards for which results were declared in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections, according to figures announced by election authorities on Tuesday evening.

Of the 61 wards declared by 8.30 p.m., candidates backed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 52 — the TDP 33, the JSP 15 and the BJP four. The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) won five wards, independent candidates four, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) one. Counting in the remaining wards was still under way when reports last came in.

The alliance's victories were spread across the city's East, West, North and South zones, as well as in Bheemunipatnam and Gajuwaka, areas that have traditionally been regarded as TDP strongholds. NDA-backed candidates won in a majority of wards in these areas.

Both sitting corporators and first-time candidates backed by the alliance registered convincing victories in many wards, several of them with substantial margins over their rivals, the figures showed. The alliance also made gains in a number of wards in the South Zone, where political observers and local leaders had earlier expected the YSRCP to perform better.

Among the declared results, the Left parties secured one victory. In Ward 105 of the Aganampudi zone, CPI(M) candidate M. Krishnaiah defeated his TDP rival K. Vijay Kumar. It was the only win for the Left among the results officially announced as of Tuesday evening.

The results also produced victories for several independent candidates and party rebels. TDP rebel Kaki Govinda Reddy, who contested from Ward 86, defeated the YSRCP candidate by a margin of more than 200 votes, while the NDA-backed JSP candidate did not make a significant impact in that ward. Independent candidates Pampana Rajyalakshmi from Ward 41 and Battina Naveen from Ward 39 were among those who won, defeating candidates backed by major political parties.

Municipal corporation elections determine which grouping controls civic administration in a city — including water supply, sanitation, roads, street lighting and building permissions — and therefore have a direct bearing on day-to-day life for residents. The GVMC is among the largest urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh, and the contest was closely watched as a measure of the standing of the state's major parties at the local level. The YSRCP is the principal opposition party in the state Assembly.

Election authorities released ward-wise results as counting progressed through the day. Detailed vote-share figures for the corporation as a whole were not part of the results announced on Tuesday evening.