TDP-led NDA decides not to contest Visakhapatnam MLC by-election

Decision taken by TDP president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who conveyed the same to the party and alliance leaders

Amaravati: The TDP-led NDA in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday decided not to contest the MLC bye-election for the Visakhapatnam Local Authorities constituency.

The decision was taken by the TDP president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who conveyed the same to the party and alliance leaders during a teleconference. CM Naidu is understood to have told the TDP leaders that winning the election was not a big issue but the alliance would act with dignity.

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Leaders of TDP’s partners Jana Sena Party (JSP) and BJP backed CM Naidu’s decision to stay away from the by-election to the Legislative Council. CM Naidu took the decision after a six-member committee constituted by him submitted its report.

The committee comprising leaders from the TDP, JSP and BJP held consultations with the leaders at the ground level. Tuesday (August 13) is also the last date for filing nominations for the bypolls. Former Minister Botsa Satyanarayana on Monday filed his papers as the candidate of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

The name of Byra Dileep Chakravarthy as the NDA candidate was doing the round in political circles. However, the TDP chief decided not to field the candidate. Out of a total 838 electors (Corporators, Councillors, ZPTCs and MPTCs) in the combined Visakhapatnam District local authorities, more than 500 belong to the YSRCP and it is confident of winning the election.

A section of the alliance leaders were of the view that if they field a candidate, local bodies representatives belonging to the YSRCP would support the ruling coalition as this would enable them to take up development works in their respective areas. The bypoll to the MLC seat is scheduled to be held on August 30 to fill the vacancy arising out of the disqualification of Chennuboina Srinivasa Rao.

Srinivasa Rao, whose real name is Vamsi Krishna Yadav, was disqualified as MLC by the Council Chairman in March under the anti-defection law after he quit YSRCP to join JSP. Srinivasa Rao was elected to the Assembly on a JSP ticket from Visakhapatnam South constituency in the May 13 elections.

Two nominations have been filed so far for the bye-election. While Botsa Satyanarayana filed the nomination as YSRCP candidate, Sheikh Shafiullah filed the papers as an Independent. One of the senior most leaders of YSRCP, Botsa Satyanarayana served as the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development and Human Resources development in the previous YSRCP government headed by Jaganmohan Reddy.