Left parties, Congress back candidature of Venkateswara Rao for VMC Mayor post
Congress withdraws from the mayoral contest following an appeal made by the former IPS officer; CPI and CPI(M) reach an understanding on the corporator seats to be contested
The Congress, along with the Communist parties CPI and CPI(M), have united behind the candidature of A.B. Venkateswara Rao for the post of Mayor of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC). This joint support signals a collective effort by these parties to contest the forthcoming elections. The Left parties have agreed to jointly contest various corporator seats and stand by Mr. Venkateswara Rao as their common mayoral contender.
In a meeting held on Saturday, leaders from the CPI and CPI(M) reached an agreement on the contested corporator seats. They also expressed willingness to maintain ongoing discussions with the Congress and other Left parties to foster broader coordination in the electoral process. The meeting urged voters to elect Mr. Rao as Mayor and candidates from the CPI and CPI(M) as corporators.
Retired IPS officer Venkateswara Rao had previously written to the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president, Y.S. Sharmila, seeking her party's backing. In his letter, he highlighted the political climate in Andhra Pradesh and expressed his desire to present a democratic and secular alternative to the current TDP, Jana Sena, and YSRCP alliance, which he claimed were aligning with fascist tendencies.
Rao appealed to Sharmila, as APCC president and a key member of the INDIA bloc, to back his candidature and encourage Congress workers to vote for him. Sharmila responded favorably to his appeal, confirming the Congress' full support for Rao.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
