Hyderabad: With the municipal election schedule announced, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday said all three major parties — Congress, BRS and BJP — were now gearing up for another high-stakes political contest in the civic polls.
The three parties have firmed up their plans to launch full-scale preparations to reach out to urban voters.Unlike the recent gram panchayat elections, which were held on a non-party basis without symbols, the municipal polls will be fought on party lines. Leaders across parties view this as a crucial political test, with each claiming strong public backing in the earlier rural elections.
Sources in various parties say candidate selection will hinge on internal surveys and loyalty to the party.
The ruling Congress has already indicated that surveys will play a central role in finalising nominees, with sitting MLAs and constituency in-charges expected to have a say. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy is likely to address at least six major public meetings across erstwhile districts after returning to Hyderabad on Jan 2 from an overseas visit.
Ministers and MLAs have been asked to camp in municipalities to oversee campaign efforts and coordinate grassroots mobilisation.The BRS has also moved swiftly, with party working president KT Rama Rao appointing district coordinators to steer candidate selection, strategy and campaign management.Keen battle on cardsCoordinators, along with local MLAs and in-charges, will camp in municipalities for the next two weeks. In the 2020 municipal elections, BRS dominated, winning around 100 of 120 municipal chairperson posts and seven of nine municipal corporations.
BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to convene a meeting with senior leaders soon, while KTR and Harish Rao will lead the campaign push.The BJP, too, has stepped up activity. The party recently held its Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra in the city and is mobilising senior leaders for district tours. BJP state president N Ramchander Rao, Union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay, along with MPs and MLAs, will oversee campaigns in their respective Lok Sabha and assembly segments.The BJP claims it won over 1,000 panchayats in the local body polls and says the momentum will carry into the municipal elections.
