With barely two weeks left for polling, electioneering in the city is in full swing with candidates trying to reach out to every nook and corner of their respective constituencies.
From scaling hill-slope areas to making door-to-door visits, leaders are going all out to please voters.
YSRCP’s Vijayawada Lok Sabha candidate Potluri Veera Prasad (PVP) along with Vijayawada West Assembly candidate Vellampalli Srinivas campaigned in the lanes and bylanes of the 31st division, an area that has hill-slope settlements. The candidates showered promises of developing the constituency and city.
PVP’s opponent from the BJP Dileep Kilaru along with BJP Central constituency candidate V. Satyamurthy visited Gulabi Thota, Devi Nagar and surrounding areas taking forward the success stories of the schemes implemented by the BJP at the Centre. They accused the State government of not being able to complete the Kanakadurga flyover though the Centre had sanctioned enough funds.
Jana Sena and CPI(M) candidate from the same constituency Ch. Babu Rao toured the far-flung areas of New Rajiv Nagar, Old Rajiv Nagar, Kandrika and other parts of the constituency.
TDP’s MP candidate Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) along with Gadde Rama Mohan of the East Assembly constituency campaigned in Krishnalanka and other areas in the evening.
On the other hand, the candidates of the Jana Sena Party who are yet to launch a full-fledged campaign, held a press conference.
JSP’s MP candidate Muthamsetti Prasad Babu, who made a last-minute entry into the party, said he was an advocate by profession and did not have crores of rupees to splurge in the elections.
Joins TDP
In the West constituency, TDP got an added advantage on Tuesday as YSRCP’s city minority leader M.S. Baig joined the Telugu Desam Party. Mr. Baig, who filed the nomination as an independent candidate, met TDP MLC Buddha Venkanna. The MLC later announced the joining of Mr. Baig in the TDP and said the nomination would be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, most of the candidates are preferring to begin the campaign as early as possible in the day and end it before noon to avoid scorching temperatures. In the evening, campaigning is being done after 4 pm.
The city witnessed a maximum temperature of 36.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.