Hyderabad: Following the notification issued for the MLC elections under the local authorities quota on May 31, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will continue to remain in force in Telangana until June 7 as the polling for the MLCs will be conducted on May 31 and the counting would be held on June 3.
With political circles speculating that the government decided to conduct municipal polls based on the result of the Lok Sabha polls, state officials are beginning to get worried that with the impending MLC elections, the functional bodies in the state could continue to remain paralysed for another year.
The state cabinet has decided to meet on May 28 to take key policy decisions pertaining to the Municipal, Revenue, and Panchayat Raj Acts. However, State Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar has clarified that while the government may hold Cabinet meetings, policy decisions may not be taken until the conclusion of the election code.
Consequently, owing to the impending MLC election, vital policy decisions, which were expec-ted to be announced on June 2 (Telangana formation day), could be announced much later.
Decisions which were anticipated to be announced on the day include the decrease in the prescribed age of the old age pensioner from 65 to 57, an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,016, financial aid for the economically backward who owned plots valued between Rs 5 lakh-Rs 6 lakhs, the appointment of parliamentary secretaries, and new infrastructure projects. Such policy decisions will now be taken only after the Cabinet’s approval.
According to the notification released by the Election Commission on Tuesday, the last day for filing nominations for the MLC polls is on May 7 and the nominations will be scrutinized on May 15. Further, candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until May 17 and the polling would be held on May 31 from 8 am to 4 pm, and the counting will be conducted on June 3. The entire election process will conclude on June 7.
Mr Kumar said that the Election Commission has been caught up in making arrangements for the ensuing by polls.
He further said that the sitting MPTCs and ZPTCs are eligible to vote in the current election. He clarified that the notification was released only for the MLC seats under the Local Bodies quota as the remaining MLC seats under the MLA quota were facing court cases and therefore, a notification for them would be released soon. Mr Kumar then clarified that candidates who were facing court cases were also eligible to vote.
The by-election is a result of the resignations filed by Patnam Narender Reddy (Ranga Reddy), Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy (Nalgo-nda), and Konda Murali-dhar Rao (Warangal).
Mr Patnam Narender Reddy and Mr Komat-ireddy Rajgopal Reddy were elected as MLAs while Mr Muralidhar Rao resigned from his position as a TRS MLC to join the Congress.
