HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday directed party functionaries to prevent rebels from contesting in the municipal elections scheduled for February 11, stating that such instances had caused significant setbacks during the recent gram panchayat elections. He instructed the respective in-charges to take all stakeholders into consideration while finalising B-Forms for party candidates.
The chief minister held a zoom conference with party functionaries, including TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, and Cabinet ministers.
According to sources, Revanth expressed dissatisfaction over the party losing nearly 2,000 sarpanch positions due to rebel candidates in the past. He directed ministers, who have been appointed as Lok Sabha constituency in-charges for the municipal elections, to consult local MLAs and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents before finalising candidates.
He pointed out that the municipal elections would be conducted on party symbols, which would directly reflect the Congress’s organisational strength. The responsibility of ensuring unity and effective coordination, he said, rests with the ministers concerned.
He also urged party leaders to actively take government welfare and development schemes to the people in order to consolidate public support.
He also noted that the Opposition is currently in a phase of “self-defence” following recent “electoral setbacks”.