Three nominations have been filed for the seat of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) in Uttarandhra Teachers’ Constituency.
Returning Officer and Visakhapatnam Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad received the nomination papers. Nominations will be received in the Collector’s office from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on all government working days. The nomination process will end on February 10 at 3 p.m. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on February 11. The last day for withdrawal of nominations is February 13. Polling will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on February 27.
The notification was issued on February 3. No nominations were filed on the first day. Three contestants filed nominations on the second day (February 4).
They are Pakalapati Raghu Varma, the sitting MLC (Teachers’ Constituency), who filed two sets of nominations on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Federation.
Two other contestants, Kosuru Radhakrishna and Sattaluri Sriranga Padmavati, filed one set each.
Mr. Raghu Varma(62) belongs to the Kshatriya community. He hails from Bhogapuram village in Vizianagaram district. He took voluntary retirement as a secondary grade teacher in Padmanabham mandal in Visakhapatnam district in 2018. He entered politics with the 2019 MLC elections for the teachers’ constituency. He won the seat by securing 8,372 ‘quota’ votes including the second preference votes in the elimination process. His nearest rival Gade Srinivasulu Naidu got 6,044 votes in the elimination process.
Another contestant is Sriranga Padmavati (63). She belongs to Sri Vaishnava community. She is a resident of Akkayyapalem in Visakhapatnam. She retired as the Anandapuram Mandal Educational Officer.
Kosuru Radhakrishna(63) belongs to Kapu community. He is a resident of Railway New Colony in Visakhapatnam. He retired as a Physics Professor in an aided college in the city.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Padmavathi said, “My main agenda is to bring golden days in teaching system. I almost completed my campaign by touring all the districts.”
The polling for the MLC seat representing teachers from the North Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Anakapalli, Alluri Sitjarama Raju and Parvathipuram-Manyam districts will be held on February 27. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will continue till the polling day. As per the final voters list for the Teachers MLC constituency released on December 30, 2024, there are 21,555 registered voters in the six districts, out of which 12,948 are male voters and 8,607 are female voters.
Mr. Harendhira Prasad said, “All voters can cast their votes in 123 polling stations in the North Andhra region on February 27. Till then, MCC will be in force in the region.”
The TDP won the North Andhra Graduate MLC seat in March 2023 when YSRCP was in power. Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao secured the required 94,510 votes (in second preference) of the Graduate MLC seat, against rival candidate Seethamraju Sudhakar (YSRCP).
Published – February 04, 2025 09:30 pm IST