Congress Eyes Urban Sweep In Orugallu, Karimnagar, Deploys Ministers
The political landscape in Orugallu has witnessed a sharp turnaround since the BRS-led period, when the party exercised complete control over nine municipalities.
WARANGAL/KARIMNAGAR: The ruling Congress has shifted its focus to the upcoming municipal elections, aiming to consolidate its recent electoral dominance by capturing key urban local bodies in the erstwhile Warangal (Orugallu) and Karimnagar districts.
Following the State Election Commission’s notification on the publication of voter lists, the party leadership has begun strategic deployments, appointing senior ministers as observers with the objective of securing all municipal chairperson and mayor posts.
In a bid to regain complete control of the Orugallu region, the Congress has appointed ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Ponnam Prabhakar as in-charges for the Warangal and Mahbubabad parliamentary constituencies. The party has set an ambitious target of winning all 12 municipalities in the region, including the newly formed municipalities of Mulugu, Station Ghanpur and Kesamudram.
The aggressive push comes on the back of the Congress’ strong showing in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, where it won 11 of the 12 Assembly segments in the combined district, with Jangaon being the lone exception. This performance has significantly weakened the presence of the BRS in the region.
The political landscape in Orugallu has witnessed a sharp turnaround since the BRS-led period, when the party exercised complete control over nine municipalities. Observers note that the BRS is currently on the defensive, grappling with defections of key leaders to the Congress and the absence of sitting MLAs in 11 of the 12 constituencies.
In the erstwhile Karimnagar district, the Congress is seeking to build on the momentum gained from its recent Panchayat election success. The district has 13 municipalities and two municipal corporations, Karimnagar and Ramagundam, which have been under special officers since their terms ended on January 26 last year.
The party has prioritised winning the mayoral posts of both municipal corporations and the chairperson positions in all 13 municipalities. To ensure an organised campaign, the divisions in the two corporations have been split into zones, each to be overseen by a three-member coordination team comprising one general secretary and two secretaries.
Senior leaders are closely steering the strategy in Karimnagar. Ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar and Adluri Laxman Kumar, along with Karimnagar Assembly in-charge Velichala Rajendar Rao and City Congress president V. Anjan Kumar, recently held a high-level meeting to finalise the zonal plan. DCC president and Choppadandi MLA Medipally Satyam said the primary objective was to hoist the Congress flag over the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation.
