BRS leaders hail resurgence of party at grassroots with Panchayat polls

BRS leader S Niranjan Reddy hailed the party’s performance in gram panchayat polls as proof of growing public discontent with the Congress government. He accused the ruling party of misusing power but said BRS still secured significant victories.

Hyderabad: Hailing the resurgence of the BRS party at the grassroots as demonstrated by the cadre in the gram panchayat polls, BRS leader and former Minister S. Niranjan Reddy said on Friday that the outcome proved the growing public resentment against the Congress government.

Addressing a news conference at Telangana Bhavan along with BRS leaders G. Devi Prasad and MLA Methuku Anand, he said despite misuse of power, the polls exposed the insecurity haunting the Chief Minister.

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The BRS leaders claimed that despite being in opposition, their party secured the highest number of seats in many districts, with BRS candidates and supporters winning outright or sharing victories equally with Congress in several areas. “In districts where there was a 50-50 split between the ruling party and BRS, and in other places where our supporters triumphed, it’s clear there’s intense public resentment against the Congress,” said Niranjan Reddy.

He emphasized that even in places where Congress allegedly misused power, BRS emerged victorious. Criticizing Revanth Reddy for personally campaigning using helicopters, a move no previous Chief Minister made for local polls, Niranjan Reddy pointed out that the public still favoured BRS. “No party leader, including the Chief Minister during our tenure, campaigned for local body elections, and we never boasted about our wins.

But Revanth Reddy holds media conferences to claim credit for the victories while hurling baseless allegations at our leaders,” he added. Taking strong exception to the baseless attacks on BRS Chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao, working president K.T. Rama Rao, and former minister T. Harish Rao, Niranjan Reddy said the Chief Minister has been speaking whatever comes to mind against the BRS leadership.

The leaders strongly opposed the Central Government’s decision to rename MGNREGS undermining Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy while increasing state contributions to 40%. “The Centre is trying to tarnish Gandhi’s name, while the Congress leadership remains silent,” they said.