Kyathanpalli Chairman Poll Turns Prestige Issue for Cong., BRS

Adilabad: The chairman and vice chairman elections of Kyathanpalli municipality in Mancherial district gained political significance after the Telangana High Court directed the State Election Commission to hold the elections within three weeks.

The court issued the order on March 6 following a petition by BRS leaders demanding early elections.

Both BRS and Congress are vying for the speaker’s post in the 22-member city council. In the last district elections, BRS won 10 seats, Congress seven, CPI four and one Independent. With CPI’s increasing support for BRS, the party reached the majority point.

Mancherial DCC president Pinninti Raghunath Reddy told the media that the chairman and vice-chairman elections were pending due to technical reasons despite the completion of district elections.

Minister Gaddam Vivek and Peddapalli MP Gaddam Vamsi have ex officio votes in the council and have already registered them in Kyathanpalli.

Meanwhile, former MLA Balka Suman and three other BRS leaders were arrested in connection with the alleged attack on minister Vivek’s convoy and were later released.

The outcome of the Kyathanpalli municipal leadership election is being closely watched as a political test for Minister Vivek and MP Vamsi in the district.

The presidential election of Khanapur municipality is also expected in neighboring Nirmal district. The 12-member council consists of four councilors each from BRS and BJP, three from Congress and one Independent.

The independent councilor reportedly supports the Congress. However, BJP leaders offered to share the posts of president and vice-president with BRS to keep the Congress out of power.