Bhadradri set to witness tough fight for ZP chief post

Kothagudem: The Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, where the Zilla Parishad polls would be conducted for the first time since its formation, is set to witness a tough fight for the ZP chairman post. As the district is populated with tribals, the ZP chief post has been reserved for Scheduled Tribes (General).

In the district, there are 21 ZPTC posts. In that, Allapally, Dummagudem, Karakaduem, Mulkalapally and Tekulapally mandals are reserved for ST general category, while Charla, Gundala, Julupadu, Yellandhu and Sujatha Nagar are reserved for ST women category. Similarly, Chandrugonda, Annapureddypally, Laxmidevipally, Manuguru, Palvoncha, Pinapaka, Aswapuram, Aswaraopet, Burgumpahad, Chunchupally and Dammapet are reserved for general category. According to the reservations announced, the ZP chairman post is reserved for ST (General) category. In this scenario, the candidates of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi who tasted defeat in the Assembly polls are eyeing the ZP chief post. Tati Venkateswarlu, who lost from Aswaraopet consistency from TRS, is in the first row for the post. He is planning to contest ZPTC polls from the Mulkalapally mandal in the district.

On the other hand, two more former MLAs in the district from the party, Payam Venkateswarlu and Koram Kanakaiah, are also planning to contest the ZP elections from Karakagudem and Tekulapally respectively. They also trying to seek the blessings of party president K Chandrashekar Rao to get the post.

Similarly, another candidate from the TRS party Dr Tellam Venkat Rao also planning to be in the fray and getting ready to contest the ZP elections from Dummagudem mandal. However, the former MLAs are yet to give clarity on contesting the polls.