Hyderabad: A fractured verdict and a surge of independents have thrown Jagtial municipality into political churn, forcing the ruling Congress to reassess its chairperson candidate selection strategy.In the 50-member municipal council, results declared on Friday showed Congress emerging as the single largest party with 23 seats, followed by independents with 15. BJP won 6 seats, BRS 4 and AIMIM 2. With 26 seats required for a simple majority, Congress fell short of the halfway mark, complicating its bid for the chairperson and vice-chairperson posts. What has unsettled the party more is the profile of the independent winners. A majority of them are linked to Congress leaders. Of the 15 independents who won, nine were among those fielded by Congress veteran and former MLA T Jeevan Reddy. Four of nearly 10 candidates fielded as independents by turncoat MLA M Sanjay Kumar also emerged victorious. Sanjay, elected from the Jagtial constituency on a BRS ticket, has been accused of defecting to the Congress — an allegation he has denied. The assembly speaker has said there is no proof to support the charge. Jeevan, Sanjay at warSanjay and Jeevan Reddy have been locked in a tussle for dominance in the constituency. Sources said the Congress leadership issued a majority of the 50 B-forms to candidates finalised by Sanjay, while fewer went to those recommended by Jeevan Reddy. In response, both camps fielded their own candidates as independents. Some of Jeevan Reddy’s nominees went on to defeat official Congress candidates in certain wards. Independents thus emerged as the second largest bloc in the council, ahead of both BRS and BJP, significantly altering the power equation. ‘They are not rebels’A senior Congress leader in Jagtial said the party followed its usual practice of consulting the local MLA and key leaders while finalising candidates. “But due to division of votes and sympathy and support for Jeevan Reddy and in a few cases for Sanjay Kumar, Congress ‘independents’ won. We cannot call them as rebels as they were fielded by our own leaders. But the party is looking into the issue seriously and is likely to call both Jeevan Reddy and Sanjay to seek their explanations,” the leader said.
