Rival aspirants to share top two civic body posts now

Hyderabad: Taking a leaf from coalition governments in some states, including J&K (2002), Maharashtra (2019) and Karnataka (2023), where the idea of ‘rotational CMs or Cabinet positions’ were agreed upon to put down dissent (though not fully implemented, except in J&K); in many of the municipalities that went to polls recently, political parties are inclined to adopt a new formula, under which the stiff competition for chairman and vice-chairman posts will be ‘settled’ by letting two aspirants share power for two and a half years each to make up the five-year term of the top two positions in the civic bodies. 

This formula, coming amid the game of numbers, is being implemented in many municipalities, it is learnt. Ministers, MLAs and Congress party in-charges of Assembly constituencies in Nalgonda, Warangal, Khammam and Karimnagar districts have adopted this formula and convinced the aspirants for the top two positions in at least 30 municipalities.

According to reports, State Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy addressed challenges in selecting the chairmen and vice chairman of Kodad and Huzurnagar Municipalities. The aspirants were given the assurance that chairperson and vice chairperson posts would be given to four senior leaders’ relatives on a rotational basis, with each of them holding the post for two and a half years.

Leaders said that ruling Congress MLAs and Ministers were facing huge political pressure for the top posts in the municipalities. To prevent ‘horse trading’ (during the election on Monday) and to check the opposition parties’ move to weaken the Congress in the municipal bodies, the in-charge Ministers held meetings with the aspirants and convinced them. In some cases, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders also faced the heat from senior leaders for not giving them chairperson post in the majority of 17 municipalities where the party had finalised names for the top two posts. Some of the leaders and aspirants were given assurance of the posts “after 3 years”. The Congress leaders said that the district Congress Committees were given the authority of issuing letters to the leaders found fighting for either chairperson or vice-chairman posts. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president B Mahesh Kumar Goud has been coordinating with all district party committees to address the growing problem of infighting for the top two posts.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy also spoke directly to the leaders and enquired about the status of the selection of the candidates for the top two posts without inviting any controversy after the official process ends.