Revanth Sets Congress 90% Victory Target in Local Polls
A key agenda of the December 2 meeting is to persuade rival candidates in select gram panchayats to withdraw from the contest, thereby strengthening the prospects of Congress-backed nominees.
Hyderabad:The Congress is preparing for an aggressive show of strength in the upcoming gram panchayat elections, aiming for a near-clean sweep across Telangana. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will convene a poll strategy meeting at Gandhi Bhavan on December 2 with ministers, senior leaders and district-level functionaries to fine-tune the party’s approach.
Although panchayat elections are conducted without party symbols, all major political parties back candidates, making the stakes high for the ruling party.
The Congress leadership has set an ambitious target of securing more than 90 per cent of gram panchayats by ensuring that candidates aligned with the party receive coordinated support at every level. The polls will be held in three phases, on December 11, 14 and 17, with results being announced after each day of polling. Clarity on the final list of contesting candidates will emerge on December 3, 6 and 9, which are also the last dates for withdrawal of nominations.
A key agenda of the December 2 meeting is to persuade rival candidates in select gram panchayats to withdraw from the contest, thereby strengthening the prospects of Congress-backed nominees. The government has announced an incentive of ₹10 lakh for villages electing their sarpanchs unopposed, with an assurance of mobilising an additional ₹10 lakh through MP funds, MLA SDF allocations and other contributions to encourage consensus-building.
On Friday, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud met with Revanth Reddy to discuss election preparedness. They reviewed strategies for the elections and examined feasible ways of ensuring representation for Backward Classes, particularly in the absence of legally enforceable 42 per cent reservations.
Sources said the Chief Minister stressed the need to maximise opportunities for BC candidates wherever possible and advised persuading aspirants from other categories to support this effort in constituencies where the party sees strong BC prospects. He directed PCC chief Goud to ensure active participation of party cadres in the Praja Palana celebrations, marking the government’s two-year anniversary. and stressed the need to spread awareness about the government’s development and welfare programmes.
As part of these preparations, the Chief Minister and the TPCC president decided to hold a meeting with newly appointed DCC presidents at Gandhi Bhavan on December 2, followed by a TPCC executive meeting on the same day to issue detailed guidelines for the campaign. These meetings will also be attended by AICC Telangana affairs in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan and AICC secretaries.
