Left parties, Congress back candidature of Venkateswara Rao for VMC Mayor post

The CPI, the CPI(M) and the Congress have backed the candidature of retired IPS officer A.B. Venkateswara Rao for the post of Mayor of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), signalling a joint effort by the parties to contest the upcoming elections.

The Left parties have decided to jointly contest various corporator seats in the elections and support Mr. Venkateswara Rao as their common mayoral candidate. The Congress has also expressed its willingness to back his candidature following an appeal by the former police officer, and has decided to withdraw from the mayoral contest.

At a meeting held on Saturday, the CPI and CPI(M) leaders reached a mutual understanding on the corporator seats to be contested. They also decided to continue discussions with the Congress and other Left parties to explore wider coordination in the elections.

The meeting called upon the voters to elect Mr. Rao as Mayor and CPI and CPI(M) candidates as corporators. The decisions were announced by CPI(M) State Committee member D. Kasinath and CPI Vijayawada secretary G. Koteswara Rao.

Earlier, Mr. Rao wrote to APCC president Y.S. Sharmila seeking the party’s support for his candidature as an independent candidate. He stated that the CPI, the CPI(M) and several people’s organisations had urged him to contest the mayoral election.

In his letter, Mr. Rao referred to the prevailing political situation in Andhra Pradesh and said he wanted to offer an alternative political platform rooted in democratic values and constitutional morality. He alleged that the TDP, the Jana Sena and the YSRCP were joining hands with “fascist forces,” posing a threat to the democratic, secular and constitutional fabric of society.

He appealed to Ms. Sharmila, as APCC president and a leading partner in the INDIA bloc, to support his candidature and ask the Congress cadres to campaign and vote for him. Responding positively to his appeal, Ms. Sharmila extended the Congress’ full support to Mr. Rao.