The conflict between the sitting MLA from Visakhapatnam (South) constituency Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar and the ruling YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) corporators and ward members took a turn for the worse, with several local leaders meeting the party’s North Andhra regional coordinator Y.V. Subba Reddy and informing him of their decision to not cooperate with Mr. Ganesh Kumar if he is given the MLA ticket in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
According to some of the members who took part in the meeting, they informed Mr. Subba Reddy that Mr. Ganesh Kumar, who jumped ship from the TDP to the YSRCP after the 2019 elections, is not giving corporators the respect they deserve, and is apparently opposed to development in certain wards.
They also reportedly informed the regional coordinator that people from the constituency are unwilling to re-elect Mr. Ganesh Kumar to the Assembly and want a new face. “The corporators have told Mr. Subba Reddy that should the YSRCP give a ticket to Mr. Ganesh Kumar, they will actively begin campaigning against him and ensure that he loses,” a corporator who took part in the meeting told The Hindu.
“For the YSRCP to win the next elections from South constituency, the party should bring in a new face immediately and start promoting him. Otherwise, the YSRCP will lose this constituency again. People are not ready to vote for the sitting MLA again,” the corporator added.
Mr. Subba Reddy has promised to take the issue to the notice of YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, and has requested for the corporators’ cooperation until Mr. Jagan issues directions on how to proceed, the corporator added.
Changing loyalties
In Visakhapatnam South constituency, eight corporators have won on a YSRCP ticket in the municipal polls, while one corporator won from the TDP and three others won as independent candidates.
The three independent candidates as well as the corporator who won from the TDP have since joined the YSRCP, taking the total number of YSRCP corporators to 12. However, in the last few months, the two independent corporators who joined the YSRCP have since resigned from the YSRCP and joined the Jana Sena Party (JSP), alleging lack of cooperation from the sitting MLA.
