ULB polls: NDA finalises seat-sharing deal across Andhra Pradesh local bodies

The National Democratic Alliance partners in Andhra Pradesh have reached a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming urban local body elections, solidifying a coordinated campaign ahead of polling on October 28.

The pact between the Telugu Desam Party, Jana Sena Party, and Bharatiya Janata Party was settled on Thursday, just hours before nominations open. It covers all 123 urban local bodies across the state, bringing united administrative coordination to civic governance and building on the coalition's state-level mandate.

Under the arrangement, the TDP will field candidates in 89 civic bodies, the JSP in 25, and the BJP in nine.

How the alliance split the seats

The 123 bodies comprise 17 municipal corporations alongside 106 municipalities and nagar panchayats. Following several rounds of talks, the three partners resolved allocations by weighing grassroots organisation alongside the shared goal of cohesive urban governance.

For the municipal corporations, the TDP will lead the contest in 11, including the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. The JSP will contest four corporations: Vijayawada, Kakinada, Mangalagiri-Tadepalli, and Srikakulam. The BJP will contest two: Rajamahendravaram and Anantapur.

Party insiders indicated that the JSP is likely to put forward Vangaveeti Radha as its mayoral nominee for Vijayawada.

Cohesive strategy on the ground

The consensus follows days of quiet negotiations among alliance managers. While both the JSP and the BJP initially sought a greater share of mayoral contests, the partners aligned behind the TDP's established organisational reach across urban wards to present a single, stable governing front.

The agreement arrived on the same day the opposition YSR Congress Party named candidates for several civic bodies. With nominations getting under way, local leaders across the three alliance parties will now finalise the ward-level distribution of corporator and councillor seats.

Alliance leaders are positioning the civic elections as an opportunity to align urban development directly with state and central infrastructure initiatives, promising smooth administrative delivery across Andhra Pradesh's expanding towns and cities.