Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

TDP retains standing panel chief post

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, APRIL 23. The Telugu Desam Party retained the chairmanship of the Standing Committee of the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation for the fifth consecutive term with P.G.K. Varma defeating Tynala Vijayakumar of the Congress 3-2 in the elections held here on Friday.

The TDP does not enjoy majority in the 50-member council but is always capable of winning three of the five strips (each having 10 divisions) in the Standing Committee elections held every year.

Cross-voting has been the feature of elections to the five chairpersons of the five strips and also in the election of the Chairperson of the Standing Committee from among them.

This was the last chance for the Congress to win the chairmanship since the term of the present council was in its last year. But the TDP once again reasserted its supremacy. It won three strips to Congress's two in the election of Chairperson for each strip held on April 8, and this majority was reflected in the election of the Chairperson.

The TDP's Mr. Varma, Chelluri Girish Kumar and P. Ch. Satya Rao were elected Chairpersons of the third, first and fourth strips respectively while Mr. Vijayakumar won from the third strip and his party colleague, Pujari Madhusudhana Rao from the fifth strip.

The Congress's efforts at roping in a TDP strip Chairperson did not succeed and Mr. Varma romped home victor. In the past, Mr. Varma had narrowly missed the post as the then winner from the first strip, Jerripothula Bhagavathi Rao, managed to win the election. Mr. Bhagavathi Rao joined the Congress early this month.

Talking to reporters after the election, Mr. Varma said that he would set a new trend in the functioning of the Standing Committee.

The division-level committee would be given the authority to sanction works worth up to Rs.2 lakhs. He declared that all divisions would be treated equally.

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• Women outnumber men only on voters' lists
• TDP retains standing panel chief post
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