The ruling YSR Congress Party is facing a Herculean Task in getting its leaders to withdraw nominations from the 50 wards in Anantapur Municipal Corporation elections, for which Wednesday 3 p.m. is the deadline for withdrawal.
In an interesting turn of events, 10 of the 40 wards in Dharmavaram municipality saw only one candidate left in the fray after the deadline for withdrawal on Tuesday. All the 10 are from YSRCP and there was no commotion or any hectic activity. The Telugu Desam Party had “protected” its candidates in Dharmavaram by holding a camp elsewhere in the district, but on Tuesday, some of them came to Dharmavaram and withdrew their nomination.
On Tuesday afternoon, the YSRCP in-charge for municipal elections and former Kurnool MLA S.V. Mohan Reddy released the names of all the 50 contestants in the corporation, but there are 150 nominations filed with a 1:3 ratio in Anantapur. While only a few of them have withdrawn their candidature, hectic deliberations with several groups are internally on, and Anantapur Urban MLA Anantha Venkatarami Reddy too is trying his best to make them agree to withdraw their nominations.
Candidates’ list
A look at the list of candidates of the YSRCP shows only five sitting corporators renamed for this election, while due to change of reservation in three cases spouses have been given tickets like Kogatam Bhaskar Reddy, a two-time corporator and a contender for mayor’s post. His wife was a corporator earlier, and former mayor Rage Parasuram’s wife Bandi Naga Mani is in the race from Ward No. 2.
The YSRCP has given ticket to some engineering graduates and the focus is on bringing in youth and hence the average age of contestants is 35 years, said Mr. Venkatarami Reddy. The party has given tickets to nine persons from Minorities and seven from BCs in the general quota also with many of the Kuruba, Valmiki, Vaddera, and other communities fully represented.
Meanwhile, the TDP has given four tickets to the CPI, one to the Indian Muslim League, and issued B Forms to 45 of its candidates in the Anantapur civi cbody and there is ‘rebel trouble’ for them with different groups with the party seeking ticket for their followers. The party in-charge Vaikuntam Prabhakar Chowdhary said if those not given B Form do not withdraw their nominations by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, they would be suspended from the party.
