Mayor’s race set for a photo finish as GVMC campaign ends
After days of relentless canvassing, the campaign for the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections fell silent at 5 p.m. on Friday, leaving voters to decide on November 1. Even Cyclone Arnab could not blunt the final push, as candidates fanned out to woo voters in a mayoral contest that has become a fierce battle between the NDA and the YSR Congress.
The stakes are higher because the Mayor will be directly elected. The contest pits NDA candidate Mukka Sravani against YSR Congress nominee Varudu Kalyani, two well-educated women with considerable political experience.
Kalyani, who holds a degree in agriculture and an MBA, entered politics in 2001 as a ZPTC member. She went on to contest the Srikakulam Lok Sabha seat on a Praja Rajyam Party ticket before the YSR Congress nominated her to the Legislative Council.
Sravani, a doctor of physiotherapy, joined politics through the TDP in 2015 and won a corporator’s seat in the previous civic elections. Her family has strong TDP ties.
Direct elections are a rarity in the city. Of the seven Mayors Visakhapatnam has had, only three were chosen this way: D.V. Subba Rao in 1987, Sabbam Hari in 1995 and Rajana Ramani in 2000. Since then, the civic body has grown from 50 to 120 wards, reshaping electoral equations and strengthening the hand of local leaders.
Yet the big issues remain thinly addressed. Both sides have promised better drinking water, sanitation, healthcare and civic amenities, but neither has presented a comprehensive plan for the city’s long-term water needs, including the projected demand from upcoming data centres. Air pollution and traffic congestion have barely figured in the campaign.
For the NDA, cross-voting is the main worry. After prolonged negotiations, the alliance agreed to a seat-sharing formula under which the TDP is contesting 77 wards, Jana Sena 32 and the BJP 11. But resentment among aspirants denied tickets, along with reported differences at the grassroots, could cost the alliance dearly.
Visakhapatnam MP M. Sribharat, who spearheaded the NDA campaign, is confident the alliance will repeat its 2024 Assembly election performance. The YSR Congress is banking on discontent within the coalition to turn the tide.
With the race expected to go down to the wire, all eyes now turn to the counting of votes on November 3.