GVMC polls: NDA, YSRCP step up preparations as mayoral race widens

The brief

Context

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is heading for civic elections, and political preparations have intensified in Andhra Pradesh's port city. The ruling NDA — comprising three alliance partners including TDP, Jana Sena and BJP — is holding coordination meetings to contest as a united front, echoing its 2024 Assembly election strategy, while the YSRCP has begun its own review of poll plans. A key change is that the mayor will be elected directly by voters rather than chosen from among elected corporators, which has widened the field of aspirants and raised the stakes on candidate selection and reservation of the post.

Key facts

• GVMC has 120 wards and 1,990 polling stations, according to Commissioner Ketan Garg.
• More than 14,000 election personnel will be required to conduct the GVMC elections, Garg said.
• The mayor will be elected directly by voters in the proposed civic polls, unlike earlier when the mayor was chosen from among elected corporators.
• YSRCP reviewed its election plans at a coordination committee meeting held in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
• YSRCP president and former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy earlier held discussions with party leaders from the city at Tadepalli.
• Ministers, MLAs and senior leaders from all three NDA alliance partners recently met to formulate a joint strategy for the GVMC polls.
• Discussions on the mayoral post's reservation are centred on a BC reservation; the final category and gender will decide the eligible pool.
• A mayoral campaign would span eight assembly constituencies, making financial resources significant, an NDA leader said.

Timeline

1. 2024NDA contests Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections as a united alliance — the model it now wants to replicate in the GVMC polls.
2. Before MondayYSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy holds discussions with Visakhapatnam city party leaders at Tadepalli.
3. RecentlyMinisters, MLAs and senior leaders of all three NDA alliance partners meet to frame a joint GVMC strategy.
4. MondayYSRCP holds a coordination committee meeting in Visakhapatnam to review election plans.
5. OngoingGVMC holds back-to-back meetings with official machinery and a meeting with political party representatives on poll preparedness; training done for returning officers and zonal commissioners.
6. AheadOfficials directed to prepare an advance action plan for every process after the election code comes into force.

Who has a stake

• NDA alliance (three partners, including TDP, Jana Sena and BJP) — Wants to contest the civic polls as a united alliance on the 2024 Assembly poll model; must settle seat and mayoral claims among partners.
• TDP — Several former MLAs, corporators and first-time aspirants are in the race for the directly elected mayoral post.
• Jana Sena and BJP — Both are seeking a role in the mayoral race within the alliance.
• YSRCP and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy — Opposition party rebuilding in the city; few former MLAs and aspirants from influential political families seek the mayoral ticket.
• GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg and election machinery — Responsible for conducting polls across 120 wards and 1,990 polling stations with over 14,000 personnel.
• Visakhapatnam voters — Will directly elect the mayor for the first time under the proposed arrangement, spanning eight assembly constituencies.
• NDA MLAs from the city — Some are backing their sons for the mayoral post, adding to intra-party competition.

Why it matters

Direct election of the mayor changes the nature of urban politics: political clout, city-wide campaign capacity and money power matter more than support within a corporator bloc, as an NDA leader noted. For Visakhapatnam — Andhra Pradesh's largest city, spread over eight assembly constituencies — the contest is an early test of the NDA's alliance cohesion and of the YSRCP's revival after 2024.