BRS, Congress vie for Mahabubabad municipal chairperson post

With no party securing a majority in the 36-member Mahabubabad Municipality, independents have become decisive in the upcoming chairperson election. Congress, with 16 seats including CPI(M) support, and BRS, with 14 seats including CPI backing, are vying for control.

Mahabubabad: As the main rivals Congress and BRS in Mahabubabad Municipality did not get a clear majority, the independents have become crucial in the selection of the chairperson.

In Mahabubabad Municipality, which has 36 councillor seats, all the parties are far from the magic figure of 19. With this, both these parties have been devising strategies to win the municipality. While the Congress won in 13 wards, the CPI (M) won in three places and with the support of the CPM, its strength reached 16. BRS won 11 seats and CPI won three seats, with their support, BRS’s strength reached 14 seats.

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There are speculations that BJP, which won one ward, is likely to support BRS instead of Congress. This has increased the demand for the five independent candidates who emerged as winners in the municipality.

It is reported that the ruling party has offered to give the chairperson post to one of the independents after Balu Chauhan, who was in the fray as the chairperson candidate from Congress, was defeated. BRS is also continuing negotiations with the independents to secure power.

Former MLA Shankar Naik’s daughter Tejaswini has won from Ward No. 20 and he is making efforts to get his daughter elected as the chairperson. The ex-officio votes in Mahabubabad Municipality are also going to be crucial for both the parties.

While the ruling party has votes of MLA Murali Naik and MP Balram Naik, BRS has the votes of MLC Takkellapalli Ravinder Rao and Rajya Sabha member Vaddiraju Ravichandra. BRS and Congress are making serious efforts to win support from independents and the result would be seen on February 16, on which the chairperson election would take place.