Municipal Polls : A tough battle ahead in Mahabubabad

Mahabubabad: With the elections to municipalities just around the corner, the aspirants, who have been thirstily waiting for about a year, in Mahabubabad, popularly known as Manukota located on the banks of Munneru, a tributary of River Krishna, appear to be edgy with the authorities yet to announce reservations ward-wise.

Although Mahabubabad is well known for its electoral volatility, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had managed to reign supreme in the 2014 and 2018 elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly.

Mahabubabad was a major Gram Panchayat before it was upgraded to second grade municipality in 2011 with 28 wards.

With the inclusion of five villages – Bethole, Edulapusapally, Rajalpet, Jamulapalli and Anantharam, the number of wards in the town has gone up to 36, thus becoming the largest municipality in the erstwhile Warangal district.

The people gave a fractured mandate in the last municipal elections held in 2014, before the formation of Telangana State.

In that neck and neck contest, the Congress and the TRS had won seven wards apiece out of the 28 wards. While the CPM had finished with five, the CPI, Telugu Desam and Independents had three apiece.

The Congress candidate Bukya Uma Murali Naik clinched the municipal chairperson post with the support of the Left parties. Surnapu Somaiah of the CPM became Vice-Chairperson.

Even though the Congress was at the helm of municipality affairs in the last term, and the Left Parties still command considerable sway over the town, it's going to be tough time ahead for them with the TRS to fire on all cylinders to clinch the urban local body (ULB), the district headquarters.

The Congress which faced back-to-back setbacks in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls appears to be strong-willed to snatch a win from the TRS.

Former Union Minister Porika Balaram Naik, All India Adivasi Congress vice chairman Tejavath Bellaiah Naik and former Municipal Chairperson Bukya Uma Murali Naik had closeted with the party cadres last week to discuss about the municipal elections to be held on January 22.

"Notwithstanding its political dominance, the TRS leadership will also be having its cup of woes especially when the leadership sits to select winning horses among a host of aspirants vying for the ticket.

It is said that the local MLAs will be given the task of selecting aspirants and ensuring their victory in all their respective ULBs.

In such a case, Mahabubabad MLA Banoth Shankar Naik will hold all the cards, and it could be an embarrassing situation for the aspirants belonging to Minister for Tribal Welfare Satyavathi Rathod and MP Maloth Kavitha, who also hail from the district," a TRS leader told The Hans India.

On the other hand, while the TDP has an uphill task to make their presence felt in the upcoming municipal polls, the BJP is trying to get its foothold in Manukota politics.