HYDERABAD: With municipal elections on the horizon, political parties in the state have begun placing responsibilities on key leaders and trusted cadres to win as many urban local bodies as possible to consolidate their organisational strength.
The ruling Congress has stepped up its preparations, treating the elections as a test of its grip over urban centres. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been addressing public meetings and participating in foundation-laying programmes across select districts. Party sources say the Congress leadership views the polls as a measure of its ability to consolidate power in corporations and municipalities.
To streamline coordination, the party has appointed ministers as in-charges on a parliamentary constituency basis. TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud said screening committees had been constituted for candidate selection, comprising the in-charge minister, DCC president, MP, MLA concerned and, in segments where the party lost earlier, the previous candidates. These committees will finalise nominees for municipal corporations and municipalities.
This will be the first municipal elections the Congress will be facing after coming to power in Telangana. Leaders seeking corporator and councillor tickets have begun local-level outreach in their respective wards. The party is drawing confidence from its performance in recent gram panchayat elections, where it secured over 60% of sarpanch posts. Ministers, MLAs, MPs and MLCs have been touring municipalities, highlighting development works to attract voters.
The principal opposition, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), is also preparing for a contest without the advantage of power, after having dominated municipal bodies in the previous two terms. BRS working president KT Rama Rao and BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao have held preparatory meetings with district leaders and outlined a campaign focused on what they describe as the Congress government’s failure to fulfil promises.
The BRS had earlier won close to 90% of municipalities and corporations, and the party now faces the challenge of retaining its urban vote share. The changing political equations add another layer, with the AIMIM, which was aligned with the BRS in some urban bodies earlier, now expected to extend friendly support to the Congress in certain areas.
The BJP has also intensified its focus on the municipal polls. Internal surveys, according to party sources, suggest a competitive position in four corporations and several municipalities. Preparatory meetings have been held, and the party expects gains in areas such as Nizamabad, Nirmal, Adilabad, Bhainsa, Karimnagar, Warangal, Mahbubnagar and Medak, where it has representation through MPs, MLAs or MLCs.
The BJP leadership believes it has a chance to secure control of corporations such as Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar, along with majorities in select municipalities. Plans are under way to deploy former MPs, ex-MLAs, MLCs and senior leaders as district-level in-charges, with a campaign focused on booth-level mobilisation.
Political observers note that the elections are likely to see a split in urban votes, particularly with the BJP expanding its base since 2018 through successive Assembly and parliamentary elections. Recent local body results in Kerala and Maharashtra have also been cited by party leaders as a morale booster ahead of the state’s municipal contest.
