New districts in Telangana may sideline top leaders

Hyderabad: Telangana is expected to see the emergence of new political leaders and weakening of powerful district-level leaders  after the reorganisation of districts.

Typically, state leaders used to consult strong district-level leaders before taking any decision on local matters. With the reorganisation, the influence of the existing district leaders may be confined to the new smaller districts as new leaders emerge from other areas. This will reduce the clout of the current district leaders in the party, making the state leaders more influential.

While admitting the emergence of new leaders, K. Jana Reddy, a Congress leader and the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, said old guards like him will continue to have a say in every district.

However, he haste-ned to add he doesn’t know what will happen after the exit of old leaders. “I don’t know whether the new districts will result in new local leaders or make state leaders autocratic due to smaller districts,”  he said.

Recently, municipal administration minister K.T. Rama Rao too had spoken about the  emergence of second rung political leaders in all new districts after the reorganisation of districts.