NALGONDA: The upcoming ZPTC and MPTC elections have become a major cause of worry for the Congress as the grand old party is said to be facing a shortage of candidates to field in the local body polls.
According to party insiders, the reasons for lack of interest among the party leaders and cadre are shortage of money and also the chances of them winning are very remote.
In the combined Nalgonda district, there are 71 ZPTCs and about 180 MPTCs. In the last local body elections, Congress party had won 41 out of 59 ZPTCs. However, presently there is a TRS wave in the State and in the recent Assembly and sarpanch elections, the pink party won the majority of seats. Most of the Congress MLAs and party leaders have also joined the TRS party.
In view of this, the Congress leaders are not coming forward to contest elections, the sources said.“There are no hopes of winning. The TRS is on a strong wicket in most villages due to government schemes, including Rythu Bandhu, farmers insurance and pension and other welfare programmes,” one local party leader said.
When contacted by Express, most of the leaders said: “We are unable to spend the money for elections. We are told that poll expenditure will be about `5 to `7 lakhs for MPTC polls and `10 to `12 lakh for ZPTC elections.”
“There is good future in the TRS party. But the same can not be said about the Congress party,” lamented another party leader.
Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader is said to have told his colleagues, “There is no chance of Congress party candidates winning the polls. So don’t waste your money and time in participating in the local body elections.”