Jana Sena Party will select local body candidates on merit, local connect: Manohar

Civil Supplies Minister and Jana Sena Party (JSP) Political Affairs Committee Chairman Nadendla Manohar addressing a party meeting in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU Civil Supplies Minister and Jana Sena Party (JSP) Political Affairs Committee member Nadendla Manohar has stressed the need to select capable candidates for the proposed local body elections, taking into account their familiarity with local issues, ability to address public grievances, engagement with people, patience and commitment to party discipline.Addressing a party coordination meeting attended by a large number of JSP leaders and cadre here on Saturday, Mr. Manohar said the party’s ideology and policies would contribute to about half the votes in local body elections, while the remaining half would depend on the candidate’s personal image.“Voters will closely observe the candidate’s understanding of public issues and their ability to address them,” he said.He said candidates who regularly interacted with the public, possessed the ability to resolve local issues and maintained discipline within the party would be considered for selection. The candidates would be finalised after assessing all relevant factors, he added.Mr. Manohar clarified that no seats or candidates had been finalised so far and urged party members not to believe reports circulating on social media.He said the NDA partners would discuss seat allocation only after receiving comprehensive reports on the ground situation. The alliance parties would hold another two or three rounds of meetings and submit preliminary reports to their respective leaderships before taking up seat sharing and candidate selection, he said.Recalling the 2021 Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections, Mr. Manohar said the JSP had demonstrated its strength by winning three divisions and finishing second in seven others despite adverse circumstances. The party had also firmly opposed the policies of the then YSRCP government in the council and earned public support, he said.He urged party leaders and cadre to work collectively for the victory of the candidates once the selections were finalised. He also called upon them to work in coordination with leaders of all alliance partners in the local body elections.Mr. Manohar stressed the need to inform voters about the development and welfare initiatives undertaken by the NDA government and explain the changes and reforms introduced by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan in the Panchayat Raj Department.MLAs Vamsi Krishna Srinivas Yadav, Panchakarla Ramesh Babu and Lokam Madhavi, MSME Corporation chairman T. Sivashankar and others were present. Published - September 19, 2026 06:04 pm IST