TRS, Oppn gear up for municipal polls in Telangana

The ruling TRS and opposition parties including the Congress and BJP in Telangana have begun preparations for the municipal polls scheduled to be held this month-end.

Having secured massive victories in the rural local body polls in June last year by sweeping all 32 Zilla Parishad chief posts, the TRS is eyeing to repeat its performance in the municipal elections scheduled be held on January 22.

TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will preside over a broad-based meeting of the party on January 4, party sources said on Thursday. TRS MPs, MLAs, MLCs, Zilla Parishad chairpersons and members of state executive and others have been invited for the event.

Congress is the main rival of TRS in the state and not BJP, TRS working president K T Rama Rao, son of the Chief Minister had said.

While TRS is aiming at continuing its dominance on the state politics by winning the municipal elections, the opposition Congress is hoping to revive itself in the state.

After a shock defeat in the 2018 Assembly elections, Congress salvaged the situation by winning three seats in the Lok Sabha polls. However, it suffered a jolt when 12 MLAs left the party and merged with the TRS last year.

As part of preparations for the municipal polls, state Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday appointed district-wise coordinators and also PCC observers for 10 corporations. The coordinators and observers would hold meetings with party leaders and activists.

Having pulled off surprise gains in the Lok Sabha polls, winning four seats, BJP is hoping for a decent performance in the urban local body elections.

The ruling TRS is having sleepless nights over the growth of BJP, state BJP president K Laxman claimed on Thursday. Asked about the strategy of BJP for the coming municipal elections, Laxman, who was speaking at a Meet the Press event, said his party would highlight the alleged failures of the TRS government, how it misused the funds given by Modi government to local bodies under the 14th Finance Commission.

BJP will contest all the seats and wards and on its own in the municipal elections, he said.

The TRS, Congress and Communists are marching ahead to implement the agenda of AIMIM, he claimed.

In an informal interaction with reporters, BJP leader and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said the contest in municipal polls would be between the allies of AIMIM and the BJP. Those who win on behalf of Congress and other parties would later join the ruling party (TRS), he said in an obvious reference to Congress MLAs merging with the TRS last year.