Congress, CPI in tussle over KUDA chairman post in Telangana’s Kothagudem

Congress and CPI, alliance partners in the 2023 Assembly polls, are now competing for the KUDA chairman post in Kothagudem. With local body elections approaching, the dispute is intensifying, with internal Congress factions also lobbying for the key position

Kothagudem: The ruling Congress and CPI, who had a poll alliance in the last Assembly elections, are now competing for the newly established Kothagudem Urban Development Authority (KUDA) chairman post.

It might be noted that the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department, on October 15, 2024, issued GO No. 177 constituting the urban development authority. A gazette notification in this connection was issued on May 29 this year. However, the KUDA governing body was not yet constituted.

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It is said that CPI State secretary Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao, who represents the Kothagudem Assembly constituency, has been making efforts to get the post for any of the leaders in his party. At the same time, Congress leaders are also making claims for the post.

The issue has become complicated in the wake of the upcoming local body elections. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy held a meeting with Sambasiva Rao in the first week of July to discuss the need to join hands in the local body polls, on the lines of the 2023 Assembly elections.

The Congress leadership is said to be in a fix over whether to honour the CPI’s claim to the KUDA chairman post or to appoint a Congress leader for it. The local Congress leaders strongly argue that one of them should be given the chance to make the party’s presence felt in the constituency, in which they are feeling alienated despite belonging to the ruling party.

In addition to the above, there has been a competition among the followers of Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka for the post. The two factions have already had a face-off in the appointment of the Peddammagudi chairman post and do not want to repeat the same in appointing the KUDA chairman post.

Though several names are doing the rounds among both party circles as a potential candidate for the KUDA chairman post, there has been no clarity on who would be appointed.