What NDA’s clean sweep in local body polls means for Andhra Pradesh politics

The Urban Local Body (ULB) elections in Andhra Pradesh have been completed, amid sporadic violence during the nomination filing process, on the polling day and after the elections. The results are out, and the NDA, comprising TDP, JSP and BJP, have swept the polls.The outcome was in tune with what IT and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh had stated before the polling day. “The 2026 local body election results would be in line with the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly poll results.” He was hinting at the landslide victory of the NDA in the 2024 Assembly polls.The TDP-led alliance has won 12 of the 13 municipal corporations and 79 of the 87 municipalities and nagar panchayats. The YSRCP could win one municipal corporation and about three municipalities and nagar panchayats. The remaining civic bodies went to others.The result was almost similar to that of 2021, when the YSRCP had swept the ULB polls while being in power.Political analysts say that the results were on expected lines. Historically, the ruling dispensation sweeps the local body polls and there was nothing out of books this time, said a political science professor.Going by the data of ULB polls in the last three decades, out of eight such elections, the ruling party has won almost all, with thumping majorities.Many reasons contribute to such situations. Primarily, people always like to side with the ruling dispensation with the hope that development will percolate to the grassroots level. “There is a feeling that if we elect a corporator, a councillor or a Mayor from the ruling party, we can expect the State government to support the development of the towns, cities and wards and there will be no fund crunch,” said V. Raja Rao, a political science professor in a private college in Visakhapatnam.Another critical factor that silently and surreptitiously plays a key role in these elections is the might, machinery and influence of the ruling dispensation, political scientists observe.“Be they termed democratic or undemocratic – it happens, and the opposition leaves no stone unturned to ‘cry foul’. In 2021, it was TDP’s turn to call the election process ‘unjust ’, and there were incidents of violence during the nomination process and on the polling day at many places, especially in Kadapa, Chittoor, Guntur, Prakasam and even in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram. Now, it is YSRCP president YS. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s turn to term the election ‘undemocratic’. Of course, there was violence and rigging allegations. But they are sporadic and cannot be generalised to call the entire process a ‘failure’,” said the professor, who has observed at least four ULB polls.What is in for NDASo, what are the takeaways for the NDA, especially TDP national president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu?As the NDA is halfway through its tenure, the poll results show no hint of anti-incumbency. With more than two years to go, the NDA should focus on containing the rift in the alliance, as seen during the seat-sharing process, and on improving camaraderie among the alliance partners, especially in the lower-rung spaces.A missed opportunity for Jagan?It was a missed opportunity for Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, as the election was a chance to get over the 2024 debacle. The worst part was that his political fortress at Pulivendula has been breached by the NDA. Mr. Jagan’s aunt Y.S. Prameelamma lost the Municipal Chairperson post to the TDP candidate.Though YSRCP’s vote share dropped from about 49 per cent in 2019, when the party registered a clean sweep in the Assembly elections, to about 39 per cent in 2024, the party still maintains a share of 35 per cent, as per the tentative statistics of the ULB elections.Win-win for PawanJSP president K. Pawan Kalyan appears to maintain a winning streak with a 100 per cent strike rate. In 2024 Assembly polls, the party won all 21 MLA seats it had contested. In the ULB polls, the JSP has won both the mayoral seats and the 17 chairperson seats in municipal and nagar panchayats that were allocated to it during the seat-sharing consensus.Though the BJP lost the Anantapur mayoral seat, it has won four chairperson seats in the municipal and nagar panchayats.