Revanth to Hold CLP Meeting Today to Gear Up Party for Local Bodies Polls

 Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will hold the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Thursday to assess the party’s preparedness for the upcoming local body and MLC elections.

The meetings will also focus on aggressively promoting the Congress government’s achievements, including the Scheduled Castes (SC) sub-categorisation and the caste census, which were completed within 14 months of the party coming to power.

The Congress is planning to organise 'victory celebrations' by organising a huge public meeting soon to celebrate the state government’s decisions on caste census and SC sub-categorisation within 14 months of coming to power. The venue for the public meeting is expected to be decided in the CLP meeting.

The meetings will commence at 3 pm at the MCRHRDI, Jubilee Hills. Initially, the Chief Minister planned to hold district-wise meetings of Congress MLAs in batches but was later converted into a CLP meeting to interact with all Congress MLAs at one-go.

This marks the first time that Revanth Reddy is holding CLP meetings ahead of local bodies elections and MLC elections and after the reports on caste census and SC sub categorisation were passed in the Legislative Assembly.

Reports of differences between ministers and party MLAs in certain districts have surfaced, causing concern among party cadres ahead of the local body elections. To address these issues and strengthen party unity, CM Revanth aims to resolve internal conflicts and boost morale through these meetings.

The Congress government is keen on consolidating support from Backward Classes (BCs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs), who collectively constitute nearly 85 per cent of Telangana’s population. By showcasing its swift action on caste census and SC sub-categorisation, the party hopes to bolster its electoral prospects. The Congress had promised these initiatives in its November 2023 Assembly election manifesto and successfully implemented them within 14 months of taking office.

Official sources indicate that the election schedule for gram panchayats, zilla parishads (ZPs), and mandal parishads (MPs) will be announced anytime after February 15. However, it remains uncertain whether gram panchayat elections will be held first or if ZP and MP elections will precede them. Speculation within Congress circles suggests that CM Revanth prefers conducting ZP and MP elections first, followed by gram panchayat elections.

Notably, ZP and MP elections will be contested on a party-symbol basis, while gram panchayat elections will be held on a non-party basis. Given this backdrop, the upcoming meetings with MLAs hold significant political importance.

The Congress government, which came to power in Telangana in December 2023, has successfully addressed long-pending issues related to caste census and the SC sub-categorisation. The caste census was conducted for the first time in Telangana, while the SC sub-categorisation issue, which had remained unresolved for over three decades since the early 1990s, was tackled swiftly by the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government.

On February 4, the Chief Minister tabled the caste census and SC sub-categorisation reports in the Legislative Assembly, securing their passage through a voice vote. He further assured that the government would soon introduce legislation to implement SC sub-categorisation, extending reservations to SC sub-castes in education and employment.

As Telangana gears up for local body elections, the Congress government aims to leverage these landmark decisions to consolidate its voter base and strengthen its electoral prospects.