Hyderabad: The ruling Congress has started receiving hundreds of names of aspirants for 565 zilla parishad territorial constituency (ZPTC) seats, with the number continuing to rise as the deadline for submission to TPCC president B Mahesh Goud is set to end in the next few hours (Oct 5 evening).The ZPTC and mandal parishad territorial constituency (MPTC) elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on Oct 23 and Oct 27, with the nomination process beginning on Oct 9. However, the proceedings are subject to the outcome of a high court hearing on Oct 8 regarding the 42% Backward Classes (BC) quota. Petitioners have argued that the GO violates the Supreme Court’s 50% cap, and noted that the governor has not approved the assembly’s amendment to the Panchayat Raj Act of 2018, which seeks to remove the cap. Additionally, two bills proposing 42% reservation were still pending presidential assent.With nominations set to open on Oct 9, chief minister A Revanth Reddy has instructed that a shortlist of three candidates per ZPTC constituency be finalised before Oct 8. Despite the directive, many district Congress committees (DCCs) have submitted five or more names for each seat.“There is a lot of demand for ZPTC seats as leaders believe that the ruling Congress will win a majority of them. Contesting the local body elections from the ruling party is always an advantage as a victory is almost assured. If there are five to six good candidates, we have sent their names to the TPCC,” a senior leader stated.Revanth Reddy and AICC in charge of Telangana Meenakshi Natarajan have tasked the TPCC leadership with preparing the ZPTC candidate list. TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud has delegated the responsibility of enlisting MPTC and sarpanch candidates to DCCs. The party’s screening committee is expected to finalise the ZPTC candidates by Wednesday night, followed by other categories.AICC in charge Meenakshi Natarajan has instructed that all party members, from polling booth workers to ministers, work towards ensuring victory in the local body elections and the Jubilee Hills by-poll. Ministers responsible for various districts have begun holding preparatory and strategy meetings with party leaders and cadres.IT and industries minister D Sridhar Babu, overseeing the combined Rangareddy district, held a key meeting with party MLAs and constituency in charges on Saturday. He provided strategic guidance for the local body elections and highlighted key issues to be communicated to voters at the grassroots level.A constituency-wise review was conducted to assess the party’s strengths, weaknesses, and previous election outcomes. “Ensure complete coordination among party leaders and workers, leaving no room for internal differences during the election process. Take to the doorsteps of the people all the welfare schemes being implemented by the Congress govt, along with developmental initiatives. Also, highlight the failures, irregularities and alleged corruption of the previous BRS govt,” minister Sridhar Babu told party leaders.
