Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met Jana Sena leader Nadendla Manohar and Andhra Pradesh BJP president P.V.N. Madhav at his Undavalli residence to discuss seat-sharing and coordination among the National Democratic Alliance partners ahead of the state’s local body elections.
The meeting followed the state government’s notification announcing reservations for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and women for the posts of mayors in 17 municipal corporations and chairpersons in 106 municipalities and nagar panchayats. The reservation exercise is expected to shape the alliance’s candidate selection across urban and semi-urban local governments.
No official statement was issued on the discussions. However, sources cited in the report said the leaders considered seat allocation among the three alliance partners. Jana Sena and the BJP have reportedly submitted lists of seats they are seeking, based on their respective organisational and electoral strengths.
The discussions were understood to have focused on identifying candidates regarded as having strong electoral prospects. The alliance is also working to coordinate its campaign and finalise candidates before the State Election Commission announces the poll schedule. The commission is expected to announce the schedule possibly on October 14, according to the report.
The talks are significant because municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats are responsible for a large part of the everyday administration experienced by urban residents. Their elected bodies oversee local political representation while working within a system that includes municipal officials, state departments and local service institutions. The distribution of mayoral and chairperson posts will therefore determine how the alliance presents its urban leadership in the next round of local governance.
The reservation notification has added another layer to the seat-sharing exercise. Naidu had reportedly told a party election strategy meeting earlier that the alliance would allocate 40 per cent of seats to Backward Classes while safeguarding the interests of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. The report did not specify how that proposed allocation would be applied across individual municipal bodies or alliance partners.
The NDA partners are seeking to build on their performance in the last Assembly elections, when they won 164 of Andhra Pradesh’s 175 seats, recording a strike rate of about 93 per cent. The local body elections will require the alliance to translate that Assembly-level performance into a coordinated contest across municipal and panchayat jurisdictions.
Naidu had also called for greater coordination among the alliance partners to take on the YSRC in the local body polls. The immediate next steps are expected to include finalising the seat-sharing arrangement, selecting candidates and aligning campaign plans before the State Election Commission formally announces the election schedule.
