LOCAL BODIES QUOTA YSRCP picks Botsa for MLC post

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), led by former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has nominated former minister Botsa Satyanarayana for the upcoming MLC elections from the Visakhapatnam local bodies constituency.  This decision was made after thorough discussions with senior party leaders and ex-legislators from Visakhapatnam, aiming to address the current political challenges.
On Friday, Jagan held meetings with key party members, including Gudivada Amarnath, Budi Mutyalanaidu, and MVV Satyanarayana. Despite several candidates showing interest, Jagan choose Botsa Satyanarayana, viewing this as a strategic move to tackle rival parties’ political issues and challenges.
Sources say Jagan’s choice of Botsa, an experienced politician from Vizianagaram, is meant to strengthen the party against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which has been recruiting YSRCP members. Botsa’s experience and resources are expected to help maintain party unity and counter TDP’s recruitment efforts. In a recent meeting, Jagan criticized TDP’s tactics: “Our party holds a clear majority in the Visakhapatnam local bodies constituency. Naidu should abstain from fielding a candidate if he has any ethics. However, Naidu’s past actions have demonstrated a lack of decency in such matters.” He called for senior party leaders to unite against opposition attempts to weaken YSRCP’s voter base.
The political situation is further complicated by recent defections of several YSRCP corporators from the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to TDP and Janasena. With the MLC elections approaching, TDP, Janasena, and BJP have increased efforts to attract YSRCP members, adding to the electoral pressure on the party. Botcha Satyanarayana, who previously lost the assembly election from Cheepurupalli in Vizianagaram and whose wife Jhansilakshmi lost in the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha elections, now faces the challenge of reestablishing his political influence.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for the MLC election in Visakhapatnam. The election notification will be issued on August 6, the last date for filing nominations is August 13, and polling will occur on August 30. This by-election follows the disqualification of Vamsikrishna Yadav, who had joined Jana Sena shortly before the Assembly elections after being elected to the council as a YSRCP nominee. Though Yadav was disqualified from the council, he was elected to the assembly as a Jana Sena candidate, prompting this by-election.