Congress Plans Manifesto for Telangana Local Polls
Focus on rural, urban development as party drafts separate manifestos
Hyderabad: For the first time, the Congress plans to release a party manifesto for the upcoming local body elections, focusing on improving infrastructure in villages and towns, enhancing environmental cleanliness, and making urban and rural areas progressive and livable.
The elections for gram panchayats, zilla parishads, mandal parishads and municipalities are expected to be held in August and September.
According to party sources, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has taken the lead in drafting the party's manifesto for local bodies elections. He has directed the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leadership to initiate steps for the manifesto’s preparation, party sources said.
Traditionally, manifestos are released during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, but for the first time, the ruling Congress in Telangana has decided to unveil a manifesto specifically for local body elections.
Sources revealed that separate manifestos will be drafted for rural and urban local bodies. The manifesto for municipalities will focus on better sanitation, infrastructure upgrades, slum-free towns, construction of Indiramma houses for the poor and ensuring access to essential services for every citizen.
For rural local bodies, the manifesto will propose increased State Finance Commission grants for gram panchayats, mandal parishad and zilla parishads, alongside improved infrastructure like roads, drinking water connections, streetlights, sanitation, and greenery. The TPCC leadership is expected to form a manifesto drafting committee soon to finalise the details, party sources said.
The Telangana High Court has set a deadline of September-end for the state government to conduct these elections. However, the election notification has yet to be issued due to delays in finalising reservations for Backward Classes (BCs).
The state government is in the process of drafting an Ordinance to extend 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local bodies, which has been referred to the Governor for approval.
The Governor has sought a legal opinion on the matter, as such an extension would raise Telangana’s total reservations to 70 per cent, violating the 50 per cent cap set by the Supreme Court.
