Uncertainty on Local Body Poll Sequence Hits Aspirants

Adilabad: Uncertainty over the order of local body elections has confused many candidates, forcing them to repeatedly shift voter registration between rural and urban areas.

Initially, leaders intending to contest Zilla Parishad (ZP) elections moved voter registration from urban areas to rural villages to their respective mandals to qualify for Mandal Parishad Regional Constituency (MPTC) or Zilla Parishad Regional Constituency (ZPTC) posts. However, now that municipal elections are expected to be held first, many candidates have shifted their votes to urban areas to participate in municipal elections.

Following the confusion over voter registration, many leaders have now decided to participate in municipal elections, which are likely to precede the MPTC and ZPTC elections.

There are also allegations that some influential leaders, awaiting finalization of ward reservations and mayoral posts, are keeping voter registrations in both rural and urban areas without canceling them, allegedly for personal gain.

Municipal elections have become a matter of prestige for major political parties like Congress, BJP and BRS. Party offices are crowded with ticket candidates and the reservation lists of the relevant municipalities are displayed on the party office notice boards.

Adilabad municipality tops the list with 1,43,655 voters spread across 49 wards. Recently, Mancherial was converted into a municipal corporation while Asifabad was declared a new municipality.

Komaram Bheem Asifabad district has municipalities in Kagaznagar and Asifabad while Nirmal district has municipalities in Nirmal, Khanapur and Bhainsa. Mancherial district includes the municipalities of Bellampalli, Mandamarri, CC Naspur, Chennur, Luxettipet and Kyathanpalli.

Ticket-buyers throng party offices, meet senior leaders and search for candidates for municipal elections by linking MLAs with their biodata.

Bejjanki Anil Kumar, a senior Congress leader from Adilabad, said there is intense competition for ward council seat tickets in the Congress and many senior leaders are planning to field their family members, especially given that the Adilabad Mayor post is reserved for women under the General category.