AICC signals local polls after Jubilee Hills win
HYDERABAD: Senior Congress leaders in Delhi have given the Telangana unit a green signal to press ahead with local-body elections after the party’s victory in the Jubilee Hills by-poll. State leaders were urged to carry the “Jubilee” momentum into the local fight and prepare for a mass campaign, party officials said.
AICC in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary K. C. Venugopal met Telangana leaders in separate talks on Saturday in Delhi. State leaders who attended included Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka and TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud, officials said. The visits followed Congress candidate Naveen Yadav’s win in the Jubilee Hills by-election.
Party sources said the AICC praised the state unit for the Jubilee Hills victory and told leaders to use the confidence from that result at the grassroots. “Show the Jubilee wave locally,” senior leaders told the state delegation, according to participants. They urged an energetic, unified approach ahead of the local polls.
AICC leaders also recommended that the state discuss the conduct of panchayat and municipal polls comprehensively, take the proposals to the state cabinet and arrive at election dates acceptable to all parties. The party sought legal vetting to avoid court challenges before finalising the schedule, party officials added.
On reservations, the AICC reiterated the party’s commitment to implement 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes in local-body polls, party sources said. Leaders asked the state unit to evaluate legal and practical issues while taking steps to implement the promise. TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud told reporters that the cabinet would take a decision on the timing of local elections at its Monday meeting.
Separately, Republic-era lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal hosted a celebration as the hundredth episode of his digital show, which was attended by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, officials said.
