Andhra Pradesh municipal polls: The significance of YSR Congress’ big win

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What does it mean?

After a landslide victory in the 2019 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the YSRCP continues to be powerful in the state. The victory in almost all the urban bodies is seen as a vote for good governance which is mainly welfare-oriented. Dozens of welfare schemes and programmes have been launched for all sections of people, which seem to be a big draw for the party. The YSRCP Government has spent nearly Rs 80,000 crores on welfare schemes since May 2019, especially on SCs, STs, BCs, minorities and women. The popularity of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy continues to be very high.

How did the parties fare?

The ruling YSRCP got the lion’s share of 52.63 per cent votes in the municipal elections. The TDP got 30.73 per cent votes; BJP got 2.41 per cent while Jana Sena Party got 4.67 per cent. The TDP’s vote share has fallen from the 39.17 per cent votes it got in the 2019 general elections. The loss in all the municipal corporations is a big blow to the TDP indicating that the urban vote has also shifted loyalties to YSRCP, and dashes TDP’s hopes of making a comeback. The loss in municipal corporations of Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur, which have a strong TDP presence is a major setback. The BJP formed an alliance with Jana Sena Party but it did not click.