Civic chief election continues amid high-voltage political drama in TG

The political drama in the indirect elections of chairpersons/vice chairpersons continued on the second day on Tuesday where the authorities could complete the election only in eight out of 11 municipalities in which seven were won by the Congress party and one by BRS.

In two municipalities, the election was through a draw of lots and the elections were postponed in the municipalities of Ibrahimpatnam, Kyatanapally and Khanapur.

The Congress party won the municipalities of Yellandu, Sultanabad, Kagaznagar, Zaheerabad, Dornakal, Thoroor, Jangoan. The BRS has won in Indresham municipality. The election in Ibrahimpatnam was postponed after the intervention of the High Court, which had ordered a stay.

Councillor Yadagiri, who was said to have been kidnapped, came to the council with the court orders leading to postponement of the election. Earlier, 15 councillors elected the BRS candidate as chairman and the election of vice- chairman was postponed to Friday. At this time Yadagiri came to the council hall and at a time when the official was to announce the name, the court orders were shown.

The chairperson was elected through a draw of lots in two municipalities of Thorrur and Jangaon and the Congress party won in both these ULBs. The total members, including the ex-officio, were the same in these two ULBs, hence, the officials had to take up the draw.

In Jangaon, Congress member K Balamani was elected chairperson. In Thorrur, Congress member T Shravan became the chairman. The BRS leaders alleged that the police did not allow their leaders S Madhusudhana Chary and Satyawathi Rathod to proceed towards Thorrur. Earlier, the BRS leader Erabelli Dayakar Rao became emotional while he was not allowed to proceed towards the council hall.

Dornakal, Zaheerabad and Kagaznagar also went to Congress. Interestingly, in Kagaznagar, the BJP supported the Congress minority candidate for the municipal chairperson position. With the end of the indirect elections in almost all the ULBs, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday declared lifting the model code of conduct in the state.