Congress to go solo in local bodies' elections

Hyderabad: The Congress has decided to contest the Zilla Parishad and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency elections alone in the State, like in the Parliament elections which were held on April 11. Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), which partnered with the Congress for the Assembly elections and was part of Congress-led Peoples Front, has announced that it would contest all the ZPTC and MPTC seats in the State on its own.

Other partners of the Congress led alliance, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) have decided to contest from limited seats. The Congress has not taken any initiative to continue the Peoples Front for the local body elections also like in Parliament elections. In the Parliament elections, the Congress fielded candidates in all the 17 MP seats and sought the support of Peoples Front partners.

According to party leaders the alliance with TJS, TDP and CPI may not help the party gain the seats. In the Assembly elections the Congress lost few seats due to the alliance. Few leaders said that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has used the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) tie-up to turn the tables on the Congress. The campaign of TRS against Congress and TDP alliance created confusion among the voters and damaged the prospects of the party.

Keeping this in view, the Congress contested alone in the Parliament elections. The TDP stayed away from the polls. The TJS has contested few seats and the CPI fielded candidates from two seats. The erstwhile Peoples Front partners avoided criticising each other and instead targeted the ruling TRS in the Parliament polls. Same strategy would be used in local body elections also.

Congress leaders said that they may get the support of TDP cadre. Telugu Desam has shown its strong presence in Khammam district in the Assembly elections. They said that though the TDP, TJS and CPI leaders may not openly support the Congress, they would work secretly to ensure the win of the Grand Old Party. The Congress is aiming to win at least 20 Zilla Parishad chairperson posts.

The Congress has shown good performance in Khammam, Mahabubabad, Kothagudem, Bongir and Nalgonda districts in Assembly elections. It has lost in 10 districts narrowly in North Telangana. The party leaders are expecting that the rural people would choose Congress in ZPTC and MPTC elections and it would help the party improve its performance in those elections.