Revanth fears local body polls after sarpanch results, says Harish Rao

Former Minister T Harish Rao criticised Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for delaying municipal, MPTC and ZPTC elections, alleging fear of defeat after poor Congress performance in sarpanch polls. At a felicitation event in Sangareddy, he accused the Chief Minister of manipulating cooperative posts and misreporting BRS victories.

Sangareddy: Former Minister T Harish Rao on Saturday said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was afraid to conduct the municipal, MPTC and ZPTC elections despite their tenure having ended a year ago, stating that the fear of defeat had gripped the Chief Minister after the sarpanch election results.

Congratulating the newly elected BRS sarpanches of Sangareddy town at a felicitation programme organised by MLA Chintha Prabhakar, Harish Rao said ruling parties generally win nearly 90 percent of local body elections, but the Congress could manage only around 50 percent, while the BRS secured victories in about 40 percent of the panchayats.

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Accusing Revanth Reddy of conspiring to nominate Congress leaders to cooperative posts by issuing a government order, the former Minister challenged the Chief Minister to conduct cooperative elections if he truly believed that his government had done justice to the farming community.

Harish Rao also accused the Chief Minister of falsely claiming more victories in the panchayat elections than what the Congress had actually secured. He said that the BRS, under the leadership of Chintha Prabhakar, had won 34 panchayats, but Revanth Reddy showed only 27 BRS victories in a post-election report.

He said the people of Telangana had taught the Congress a lesson in the panchayat elections as the government failed to keep its promises. The government had failed to even supply urea to farmers, he alleged, and had forced them to make online bookings for their yasangi (Rabi) requirements. Stating that many farmers do not use smartphones, Harish Rao said the online booking system was creating serious difficulties for them.

He felicitated the newly elected sarpanches and ward members on the occasion. Later, he participated in a similar programme at Andole, where former MLA Chanti Kranthi Kiran and others were present.