Municipal Civic polls: Filing of nominations begins

Hyderabad: Election fever has gripped TRS, Congress, and BJP following the commencement of filing of nomination for municipal elections on Wednesday.
The State Government and State Election Commission (SEC) are gearing up their machineries to ensure a smooth election.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has called a meeting of MLAs and party in-charges of Assembly constituencies from 10 am on Thursday to decide issue of party tickets to the candidates.

Party general secretary Srinivas Reddy has urged each of them to make it to the important meeting.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy went a step head and announced names of some of the candidates.

He named Bathula Lakshma Reddy as the candidate for the chairman’s post of Miryalguda municipality and B Prakash (SC) for the Nereducharla municipality’s top post. Sangareddy MLA T. Jaya Prakash Reddy has stated that his wife Nirmala Jagga Reddy will be the candidate for Sangareddy municipality.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which is eager to open its account in the municipal elections, has constituted teams with the senior leaders and party MPs and also district unit presidents and those who contested the previous Assembly elections.

BJP state president Dr. K Laxman told this correspondent that all the 120 municipalities were divided into 15 clusters and each cluster has been given targets.
The senior party leader said district presidents will issue the party tickets for councellor candidates and he will issue B forms to the candidates contesting in the nine municipal corporations.

Meanwhile Mr Somesh Kumar, Chief Secretary directed all the District Collectors to make necessary arrangements for conducting elections peacefully and complete the process without any problems and as per schedule given by State Election Commission.

At a video- conference with them on Wednesday, he said that Collectors should be involved fully in election process.

“You are aware that it is for the first time that so many ULB’s (Urban Local Bodies) and Corporations are going to polls. Collectors should focus carefully in every aspect like polling staff allotment, printing of ballot papers, procuring of ballot boxes and papers.”

He asked that collectors of Ranga Reddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, Mancherial, Sangareddy, Nalgonda to take  extra care to understand each municipality as they are having more number of municipalities.

He sought a similar concentration on new municipalities.