Cabinet May Clear Decks for Panchayat Polls
Panchayat polls may be held first
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to take a decision on conducting local body elections, giving preference to panchayat elections, in view of the Jubilee Hills bypoll victory, during the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday. The Council of Ministers will meet on Monday at the Secretariat under the leadership of Revanth Reddy to discuss several issues, including local body elections, the Gig Workers Bill, and the Rythu Bharosa scheme.
Sources said that there was a possibility that the Rythu Bharosa funds would be released ahead of the announcement of the poll schedule.
In the previous schedule, elections to the mandal and zilla parishads were scheduled first in multiple phases. The panchayat polls were to be held later, and the results for all polls were to be announced on the same day. That exercise was halted following a High Court order with regard to the 42 per cent reservations for the Backward Classes community.
The Chief Minister returned to Hyderabad after completing his Delhi tour, during which he met AICC leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, along with the Jubilee Hills winning candidate V. Naveen Kumar.
It was reported that the Chief Minister discussed the local body elections with AICC leaders, especially in light of the pending court case on 42 per cent reservations for BCs. As the Telangana High Court has directed the government to submit an affidavit before November 24 on conducting local body polls, the Chief Minister is expected to deliberate with Cabinet members and take a final decision.
He is also expected to obtain legal opinion before taking a decision on the local body election schedule.
The government is likely to focus on releasing Rythu Bharosa funds to farmers’ accounts. The Cabinet meeting is also expected to clear the Gig Workers Bill, aimed at providing more facilities for gig workers in Telangana. The Cabinet is further likely to discuss expediting the release of Rythu Bharosa funds.
There is a line of thought that the local body elections should be held when the celebrations following the victory in the Jubilee Hills Assembly elections are still fresh in the mind.