BJP eyes Visakhapatnam Mayor’s post
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is preparing to stake its claim to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Mayor’s post, even as the ruling TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance is yet to decide which party will field the candidate.
With the post considered politically significant in the State’s largest urban centre, lobbying within the alliance is gathering pace. The alliance leadership has said that senior leaders will take the decision.
The BJP’s local leadership is understood to be keen on the post, citing the party’s presence in the city and its past association with the civic administration. N.S.N. Reddy, the first Mayor of the erstwhile Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, belonged to the BJP.
According to party sources, State president P.V.N. Madhav and national vice-president and Rajamahendravaram MP Daggubati Purandeswari are expected to raise the issue with the alliance leadership during seat-sharing talks.
Several names are being discussed in BJP circles. SAIL director Kashi Viswanath Raju and Rockdale Hotel proprietor Vengamamba Srinivas are reportedly interested. The name of Deepika, daughter of Visakhapatnam North MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, is also being mentioned. Mr. Vishnu Kumar Raju is said to have told party colleagues that he would have considered contesting himself had he not been an MLA. The wife of Anakapalli MP C.M. Ramesh is another name that has surfaced.
In the Jana Sena Party, Visakhapatnam South MLA Vamsi Krishna Srinivas is reportedly considering fielding his wife. At the same time, North constituency in-charge Pasupuleti Usha Kiran is also said to be interested. However, the party has held only limited internal discussion, amid indications that the post may not be allotted to it.
The TDP also has a strong interest in the post. Recent alliance discussions indicate that the three parties intend to contest the GVMC elections jointly, with seats and the Mayor candidate to be decided at the alliance level. The contest is likely to remain open until the seat-sharing formula is settled.