HYDERABAD: With the Congress gearing up for the upcoming MPTC and ZPTC elections to be held on party symbols, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is learnt to have expressed strong displeasure over the performance of nearly 18 Congress MLAs and constituency in-charges, holding them responsible for avoidable setbacks in certain pockets during the recently concluded Gram Panchayat elections.
During a virtual review meeting held on Saturday to assess the Gram Panchayat poll results, the chief minister, TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan reviewed the party’s overall performance and flagged internal shortcomings.
Sources said the leadership acknowledged the party’s broad success but pointed out that better coordination could have helped secure more seats in several constituencies.
The meeting reportedly took a stern turn as coordination failures in a few areas were highlighted.
MLAs whose performance came under scrutiny were asked to correct their approach, adhere strictly to the party framework and improve coordination ahead of the forthcoming local body elections, including the MPTC and ZPTC polls.
It is learnt that the chief minister, along with the TPCC chief and the AICC in-charge, is likely to convene a similar review with Cabinet colleagues, MLAs, MLCs and MPs.
According to party sources, Revanth and the TPCC president came down heavily on MLAs who failed to rein in rebel candidates and those who allegedly encouraged the candidature of close relatives, leading to factionalism and the loss of winnable seats.
Revanth reportedly issued a clear warning that indiscipline and deviation from party norms would not be tolerated in future elections.
The review came even as the Congress registered an impressive performance in the Gram Panchayat polls. As per data released by the chief minister’s office, elections were held in three phases for 12,728 sarpanch posts across 31 districts. The Congress won 8,335 panchayats, accounting for about 65.62% of the total, while the BRS secured 3,511 seats with 27.64% and the BJP won 710.