GVMC to elect new mayor today

Visakhapatnam: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) will convene a special council meeting on Monday to elect a new mayor for Visakhapatnam city.The election has been necessitated in the wake of the former mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari, who is from the YSRCP, losing a no-confidence motion that was initiated against her by NDA allies TDP, BJP, and JSP recently.The NDA has long alleged discrimination in both development and funding for wards represented by NDA corporators. They claim that there has been no meaningful development in Visakhapatnam over the past four years, and stated that a change of mayor is essential.Meanwhile, TDP announced Peela Srinivasa Rao, corporator from ward 96 and the current TDP floor leader in the GVMC, as its candidate for mayor. With the NDA now enjoying a clear majority in the council, following the defection of nearly 30 YSRCP corporators to TDP and JSP, Peela is expected to win by a landslide on Monday.Visakhapatnam district TDP president Gandi Babji formally handed over the B-form to Peela Srinivasa Rao on Sunday, confirming his candidature. Babji said that the decision to change the mayor was taken in in the interest of Visakhapatnam's development."Under five years of YSRCP rule, the state has deteriorated, and in four years of their governance in the GVMC, Visakhapatnam's development has come to a halt. With the aim of driving growth under NDA governance, the alliance leaders have decided to appoint a new mayor," Babji said.