Congress demands direct elections for Sarpanches

Khammam: The Congress party has demanded the State government to hold direct elections for Sarpanches to uphold the very essence of grassroot democracy. District Congress Committee president Aitham Satyam demanded the government to hold the upcoming gram panchayat polls as per the schedule and on party basis. He also demanded to hold direct elections to the post of Sarpanch.

He said Panchayat elections would be meaningless unless Sarpanches were elected directly. “Indirect election of Sarpanches lead to horse trading, hence the Congress demands direct polls,” Satyam said, accusing the TRS government of trying to take the advantage of money bag politics.

Later, he along with a host of leaders submitted a memorandum to District Collector DS Lokesh Kumar. Prominent among others present on the occasion included Vaddeboina Narasimha Rao, Deepak Chowdary, Tajuddin, Balajirao Naik, Ramulu Naik, P Durgaprasad, Jayaraj, Isaac and Jhansi.  Earlier, the Congress leaders took out a rally from Congress Bhavan to Dharna Chowk.