Left parties, AAP release joint manifesto for GVMC polls

Leaders of the Left parties and the Aam Aadmi Party releasing their joint manifesto for the GVMC elections at the CPI(M) district office in Maddilapalem in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the MCPI, and the CPI(ML) “Praja Poru” released a joint manifesto on Thursday for the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections on November 1. They appealed to voters to defeat the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance and the YSRCP, which they accused of pursuing “anti-people policies”.

The manifesto promises efforts to abolish the capital value-based property tax and to prevent an annual 15% increase. It also seeks implementation of a property tax of ₹50 a year, as provided by law, for houses built under government schemes. It pledges 150 litres of free drinking water daily for every person, and opposition to privatisation of water supply and the fitting of metres on taps. The parties also promised to oppose data centres, resist any allotment of drinking water to them, and seek curbs on pollution from the ports and pharmaceutical units. They added that they would demand the scrapping of G.O. Nos. 673 and 674, which they said paved the way for privatising civic services.

Other promises include a minimum wage of ₹26,000 for unorganised, outsourcing, and scheme workers, equal pay for equal work for municipal contract staff, and measures to stop the sale of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). The parties demanded cancellation of permissions for the Lulu Mall project, with a science centre and museum on the site.

The statement was issued by CPI(M) district secretary M. Jaggu Naidu, CPI district secretariat member M. Pydi Raju, and AAP district convenor M. Ravi Bhaskara Rao. A joint meeting also decided to back independent candidates in Wards 58, 60, 79, 119, and 120.