Congress eyes KMC by removing Mayor

Karimnagar: BRS, which got Karimnagar Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts four and a half years ago, when it was in power, with the support of most corporators including independents, is now in trouble.

The ruling Congress party is showing interest in removing the BRS mayor Sunil Rao from the post even as his term ends in six months. In the municipal elections held in the year 2020, the Congress party could not win even a single division, which was unprecedented in the municipal history.

Before the elections, all Congress party corporators left the party overnight and joined the BRS, so the Congress party could not find a suitable candidate during the elections. Due to this, for the first time, the Congress party lacked representation in the council. The Congress party, which has been holding the reins of corporation since its inception as a municipality, has not been able to digest this development.

Waiting for time, the Congress party started the operation to come to power in the corporation.

It is reported that Minister Ponnam Prabhakar is moving in that direction. Recently, nine BRS corporators joined Congress in the presence of CM Revanth Reddy at Sircilla and it was learned that five more are ready to leave the party.

Others will join the Congress under his leadership in the presence of the CM when the minister, who is in America now, returns. If everything goes according to the plan, there is a possibility of no confidence against the Mayor in June.

Karimnagar Municipal Corporation has 60 divisions. BRS won 33, BJP 13 and MIM 6 seats in January 2020 elections. Independents won 8 seats.

Eight independents joined the BRS just before Sunil Rao was elected as Mayor, and two BJP corporators joined the BRS a few years later. Three more BJP corporators joined the BRS before the assembly elections. With this, the number of BRS corporators in the municipality has reached 46.

However, after the recent assembly elections, the strength of the Congress has increased to 11 with BRS corporators switching loyalty. If five more join Congress, its strength will reach 16. Apart from these two people who joined the BJP on Tuesday, there is a possibility that the strength of BRS in the corporation will fall to 28.

With the support of six MIM corporators and three more BRS corporators joining the Congress, it seems certain that the ruling party will win the mayor’s seat. As a part of this, strategic steps are being taken and there is suspense as to who the MIM corporators will support.