Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana, who are riding high on the Congress victory in cooperative polls, want to strike when the iron is hot.
The two see the Supreme Court’s directive to the state government to hold elections to local bodies as a welcome development. Following the apex court’s directive, the chief minister has initiated steps to hold the polls at the earliest.
“I am sure the Congress will repeat the victory of cooperative polls even in the local bodies. As the state government is implementing various welfare schemes, popular mandate is with us,” said PCC chief Botcha.
According to sources, the chief minister is planning to complete the entire election process before the onset of monsoon.
Soon after the Supreme Court directive, the state government machinery was geared up to initiate the process of issuing notification for the local body polls.
The thinking of the chief minister as well as the PCC chief is that the opposition parties in the state are now in a state of disarray. Hence, it is right time for the ruling party to hold the polls to local bodies and get maximum seats.
“With Jagan Mohan Reddy still languishing in jail, the YSRC might not be in a position to compete with Congress in the polls. The TDP is also unable to overcome its organisational lapses. Even the TRS is struggling to gain its previous hold in Telangana. This is the right time for us to conduct the polls to local bodies so as to deal a body blow to the opposition and lower the morale of those parties in the run-up to 2014 elections,” a senior Congress leader said.
Congress leaders say winning more seats in local bodies would help the ruling party to prepare the ground for 2014 polls, as representatives of local bodies play a key role in molding public opinion in rural areas in favour of any political party.