KARIMNAGAR: With nominations opening for the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar (MCK) elections on Wednesday, senior Congress leaders held a face-to-face interaction with ticket aspirants at the party office in Indira Gardens here.
Erstwhile Karimnagar district in-charge and Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwara Rao, IT Minister D Sridhar Babu, and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar attended the meeting and addressed party leaders and aspirants.
Addressing the gathering, Nageshwara Rao assured party cadres that committed workers who stood by the Congress during testing times would be duly rewarded with nominated posts after the municipal elections. He made it clear that the party had not finalised any candidates so far, underscoring that the MCK polls were a top priority.
“All applications will be examined with due care before announcing candidates. There is no room for confusion or speculation. Everyone must stay focused on the task of ensuring victory,” he said. He pointed out that Karimnagar occupies a special place in the Congress’ political landscape and is especially dear to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The party, he said, would move ahead by respecting the sentiments of its grassroots workers.
Sridhar Babu said Congress committee presidents had already conducted several rounds of surveys in their respective divisions, stressing that unity and coordination among party workers would be crucial in identifying and backing winnable candidates.
“We must move forward as one team. Discipline and coordination are non-negotiable. All leaders and aspirants must respect the decisions of the party leadership, and the party expects everyone’s cooperation,” he said.
Ponnam Prabhakar asserted that the Congress was determined to hoist its flag at the KMC. He said surveys were being conducted across all 66 divisions to select suitable candidates and urged aspirants to take a realistic view of the ground situation rather than indulge in false hopes.
902 nominations filed on first day
Hyderabad: As many as 890 candidates filed 902 nominations on the first day of filing of nominations to the second ordinary elections to ward members of 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations. The elections for 2,996 wards, including 2,582 spread over 116 municipalities and 414 wards in seven municipal corporations covering 32 districts, will be held on February 11. The highest number of nominations (382) were filed by Congress candidates followed by BRS (258), BJP (169), CPI(M) (8), BSP (7), AIMIM (3) and AAP (1). Recognised parties in other states and other registered political parties filed 19 nominations while as many as 55 Independents submitted their papers. The last day for filing of nominations is January 30.