YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is leaving no stone unturned to prevent cross-voting by his party leaders in the upcoming by-election to the MLC seat in the united Vishakhapatnam local bodies constituency.
The notification for the by-polls for the MLC seat from Visakhapatnam-Anakapalle-ASR districts’ local bodies constituency was issued on Tuesday and the last date for filing of nominations is August 13. The polling will be held on August 30.
Ever since the schedule was announced, Jagan has been holding a series of meetings with the party leaders from the district to see that the party would win the MLC seat at any cost.
He named senior leader and former minister Botsa Satyanarayana as the candidate for the seat.
On Wednesday, the YSRCP president held a meeting with the representatives of various local bodies from the Araku and Paderu assembly constituencies. He made an appeal to them to extend continued support and cooperation.
Stating that this election should serve as a lesson for Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan said the YSRCP had achieved undeniable majorities in the local body elections of the United Visakhapatnam district.
“The TDP does not have sufficient numerical strength and if they adhered to moral values, they wouldn't contest these elections,” he said and emphasized the importance of values and integrity in politics stating that even though it is a more challenging path, it is the one that endures.
Jagan criticized Naidu for attempting to influence elections through unethical means, including monetary inducements, which degrade the standards of politics and urged the local representatives and party members to adhere to values and integrity, as these are the principles that will lead to lasting political success.
He called for collective support to ensure the victory of Botsa Satyanarayana, highlighting the unanimous backing from candidates who contested and won.
He also condemned TDP's attempts to buy local body representatives and stressed that such practices should not be entertained.