Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

BJP likely to go it alone for municipal elections

K.N. Murali Sankar

Party likely to field nominees for all 59 divisions

VIJAYAWADA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to contest the ensuing civic body elections on its own. The party is making arrangements to field candidates from all the 59 divisions of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).

Unlike the previous elections to the Municipal Corporation, when the party had a poll alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and fielded candidates only from 14 out of the 50 divisions, the BJP is now preferring to enter the battlefield without taking support of any political party.

While some party cadres were expressing anguish over the manner in which TDP functionaries conducted themselves in the previous elections, there was also a view that it was the right time for strengthening the BJP's base in the city.

"Competing in the elections all alone is not new to us. Except the previous elections, we fought all the elections alone since 1981 and made our presence in the city. As we have strength in many places, it will not be a problem for us to fight alone," the city unit president, L.R.K. Prasad, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

He, however, was not in a hurry to take a final decision on the issue, but was preparing the cadre for such a situation. "The State leadership has put a big responsibility on our shoulders by asking us to decide whether we want to go for a poll alliance. We are conducting a meeting here on Wednesday to elicit the opinion of our cadre," he said.

There is a general feeling among the cadre that if the party goes for a poll alliance, it should be helpful to both parties.

"In the last elections, we won four seats where we had strength. We did not get any benefit from the alliance. But, our workers worked hard for the victory of the TDP candidates in many other divisions," the BJP city unit secretary, P.V. Srirama Sai, said.

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