Morning Pulse: The alliance list is out, but two of Jana Sena's four cities are not voting yet

The alliance's seat list finally arrived on Thursday night, and its fine print matters as much as its headline. On paper the TDP takes 11 of the 17 municipal corporations, Jana Sena four and the BJP two. But only 13 corporations vote on October 28. Set the list against the State Election Commission's schedule and the first round looks different: the TDP contests 10 mayor races, Jana Sena two and the BJP one. Nominations for 100 urban bodies opened at 11 am today.

That closes the main loop from yesterday's Morning Pulse. Deccan Chronicle and Sakshi carried the same split. Jana Sena gets Vijayawada, Eluru, Kakinada and Srikakulam. The BJP gets Rajamahendravaram and Anantapur, not Nellore, which it was reported to want; Nellore stays with the TDP, as do Tirupati and Ongole, two cities earlier reports had linked to Jana Sena. Among the 106 municipalities and nagar panchayats, Jana Sena gets 21, the BJP seven and the TDP the rest, about 78. Sakshi reported that the TDP office released the list; Deccan Chronicle called it a proposed allocation. We found no joint press conference or on-record comment from the three party chiefs.

Here is the arithmetic that changes the story. Deccan Chronicle reported that the Commission did not notify Srikakulam, Rajamahendravaram, Kakinada and Mangalagiri-Tadepalli because pre-election work there was incomplete, and that it has promised polls in all 23 left-out urban bodies by the end of December. Sakshi also noted that Srikakulam and Kakinada are not voting now. So Jana Sena's October contest is Vijayawada and Eluru; the BJP's is Anantapur alone; and the TDP's only deferred corporation is Mangalagiri-Tadepalli.

This also answers yesterday's question about the missing four corporations. Two of them belong to Jana Sena and one to the BJP, which means the smaller partners carry most of the wait. Jana Sena had sought six mayor posts, Sakshi reported, as The Hans India had also reported earlier this week. It settled for four, and half of those must wait until the end of the year.

Vijayawada is now the alliance's showcase. The Hans India reported that the municipal corporation is taking nominations for its 86 divisions and the mayor's post from today to Sunday, 11 am to 3 pm, with a separate returning officer for the mayor race. Jana Sena has not named a mayor candidate. Talk that Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, who joined the party on Wednesday, or a family member could run remains unconfirmed.

The YSRCP moved first on names. Late on Thursday it announced mayor candidates for seven corporations, 10TV and Gulte reported: Kolagatla Sravani in Vizianagaram, Varudu Kalyani in Visakhapatnam, Ganta Mohan Rao in Eluru, Lanka Jyothi in Machilipatnam, Kuppam Prasad in Ongole, Anam Vijay Kumar Reddy in Nellore and Bandi Deepthi Reddy in Kadapa. 10TV said the list also covers 14 municipalities and six nagar panchayats. It names no one yet for Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Kurnool, Chittoor or Anantapur. Eluru is the first city where a named YSRCP candidate will face Jana Sena.

The courts are now part of the timetable. A bench of Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan heard a public interest petition by Chebrolu Ravi Kumar of Guntur district seeking a halt to the polls on the ground that BC reservations break Supreme Court directions, and reserved its verdict, Andhra Jyothy and Telugu Oneindia reported. Oneindia said the government argued the petition was not maintainable and that reservations were fixed lawfully. No date for the ruling was given.

On another item we were watching, the YSRCP has gone to court over candidates' case records. Andhra Jyothy reported that Justice V Sujatha agreed to hear today a petition by party general secretary Lella Appi Reddy seeking orders for police to give candidates details of cases registered against them. Separately, Deccan Chronicle reported that Justice Mandava Kiranmayee told the Commission to allow nominations at the collectorate or district election office, on a request, if candidates face trouble filing locally. We found no public response from the Commission or the police.