Uncertainty on Local Body Poll Sequence Hits Aspirants
After the confusion over voter registration, many leaders have now settled on contesting the municipal elections, which are likely to precede the MPTC and ZPTC polls.
Adilabad: Uncertainty over the sequence of local body elections has left many aspirants confused, forcing them to repeatedly shift their voter registration between rural and urban areas.
Initially, leaders aspiring to contest Zilla Parishad (ZP) elections moved their voter registration from urban areas to rural villages in their respective mandals to qualify for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) or Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) posts. However, with municipal elections now expected to be held first, several aspirants have shifted their votes back to urban areas to contest municipal polls.
After the confusion over voter registration, many leaders have now settled on contesting the municipal elections, which are likely to precede the MPTC and ZPTC polls.
There are also allegations that some influential leaders, who were waiting for the finalisation of ward reservations and municipal chairperson posts, are retaining voter registrations in both rural and urban areas without cancelling one, allegedly for personal advantage.
Municipal elections have become a prestige issue for major political parties, including the Congress, BJP and BRS. Party offices are crowded with ticket aspirants, and reservation lists of respective municipalities have been displayed on party office notice boards.
Adilabad municipality tops the list with 1,43,655 voters spread across 49 wards. Recently, Mancherial was upgraded to a municipal corporation, while Asifabad was declared a new municipality.
Komaram Bheem Asifabad district has municipalities at Kagaznagar and Asifabad, while Nirmal district has municipalities at Nirmal, Khanapur and Bhainsa. Mancherial district includes Bellampalli, Mandamarri, CC Naspur, Chennur, Luxettipet and Kyathanpalli municipalities.
Ticket aspirants have been thronging party offices and meeting senior leaders and sitting MLAs with their biodata, seeking nominations for the municipal elections.
Senior Congress leader Bejjanki Anil Kumar of Adilabad said there is intense competition for ward councillor tickets in the Congress, with several senior leaders planning to field their family members, especially in view of the Adilabad Municipal Chairperson post being reserved for women under the General category.
