YSRC sweeps MPTC and ZPTC polls in Andhra Pradesh
Amaravati, Sep 19: The ruling YSR Congress made a clean sweep of the mandal and zilla parishads elections in Andhra Pradesh, routing the opposition Telugu Desam Party in almost all of the 13 districts.
Till 7.30 PM on Sunday, the YSRC bagged 385 out of 515 zilla parishad territorial constituencies and 5,565 of the 7,221 mandal parishad territorial constituencies for which elections were conducted on April 8.
The TDP 'boycotted' the elections but technically its candidates remained in the fray as the ballots were printed before the party announced its decision.
The election process for the MPTCs and ZPTCs, the second and the third tiers of the Panchayat Raj system began in March 2020 but the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent legal battles stretched it this far.
There are a total of 659 ZPTCs of which the ruling party bagged 126 unanimously.
It also won 2,271 MPTCs unopposed. The TDP won 100 MPTCs unanimously.
Eleven unanimous winners in ZPTCs and 81 in MPTCs died since March 2020 even before the poll process ended. Elections in eight ZPTCs and 355 MPTCs were withheld for different reasons.
TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu faced humiliation as the YSRC won all the four ZPTC seats in Kuppam Assembly constituency represented by him. Also, the YSRC clinched 17 of the 19 MPTC seats in Kuppam.
In Chandrababu Naidu's native village Naravaripalli, too, the ruling party won the MPTC seat by a margin of 1,000 votes.
In Chittoor district, the TDP chief's native, the YSRC clinched all the 33 ZPTCs for which elections were held. It had also won the remaining 32 but two of the winners subsequently died.
Same was the case in SPS Nellore, Anantapuramu, Krishna, Prakasam, Vizianagaram and Kurnool districts where the YSRC held its sway.
Overall, the TDP managed to win only four ZPTC seats out of the total 659 while the CPI(M) managed one so far.
In the MPTCs, the TDP bagged 733, Jana Sena 110, BJP 24, CPI(M) 15 and CPI eight. Interestingly, the Congress managed to win four MPTCs two in Visakhapatnam district and one each in East Godavari and SPS Nellore.
Independents have so far won 145 MPTC seats, according to information released by the Information and Public Relations Department.
Meanwhile, the State Election Commission issued a notification fixing September 24 as the date for the indirect election (by the elected members) of the president and vice-president of the mandal parishads.
The chairperson and vice-chairperson of the zilla parishads will be elected on the September 25.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Speaker UT Khader attends local cricket tournament during Bhatkal visit
Bhatkal: Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly U. T. Khader visited Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district on Saturday and attended a local cricket match being played as part of a tournament organised by the Cosmos Sports Centre of Bhatkal.
After attending a programme at Anjuman Hami-E-Muslimeen, Khader proceeded to the Bhatkal Taluka Stadium, where the tournament is underway. He was accompanied by office-bearers of the Cosmos Sports Centre and several local community leaders.
Those present during the visit included President of Majlis-e-Islah Wa Tanzeem and former JD(S) leader Inayathullah Shabandri, Vice President of Tanzeem Atiqur Rahman Muniri, General Secretary Abdul Raqeeb MJ, President of Cosmos Sports Centre Ismail Anjum, Managing Director of Mohtisham Complexes S. M. Arshad, former president of the Bhatkal Muslim Youth Federation Imtiyaz Udyawar, among others.
Addressing players and organisers, Khader extended his best wishes to the participating teams and urged the players to uphold the spirit of sportsmanship. He said such tournaments help promote unity and brotherhood among the youth.
The cricket tournament began on November 21 and will conclude with the final match on December 21. It is being organised as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Cosmos Sports Centre.
Cosmos Sports Centre is one of the member clubs of the Bhatkal Muslim Youth Federation and is known for its active role in promoting sports in the town. Apart from sporting activities, the centre is also involved in various social and community initiatives, including efforts to promote education among students.
