Hyderabad: Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Thursday called on Congress leaders and workers to secure Sarvottama Reddy’s victory in the Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam Graduate MLC elections.
Addressing a joint Warangal district preparatory meeting in Warangal, he directed party workers to coordinate efforts from the village to the district level. He also urged them to ensure that graduate voters gave their first-preference votes to Congress candidate Ramireddy Sarvottama Reddy.
Ponguleti, who also held the Information and Public Relations portfolio, said the Congress and CPI had political strength in 32 of the 34 Assembly constituencies across the three erstwhile districts.
He added that Congress had previously maintained a strong presence in the remaining two constituencies. Therefore, he urged party leaders to convert that strength into a substantial majority in the MLC election.
Ponguleti seeks Sarvottama Reddy’s victory through voter mobilisation
The minister directed Congress workers to focus on graduate voter registration and renewal before the November 6 deadline. He suggested identifying graduates returning to their hometowns for festivals, including Dussehra, and helping eligible voters register.
Ponguleti said Warangal district alone had approximately 47,000 graduate voters. Consequently, he called for special attention to voter enrolment and renewal across the district. He also asked party workers to explain the welfare and development programmes implemented by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s government.
According to Ponguleti, announcing the Congress candidate ahead of the election demonstrated the party’s preparedness. He maintained that strengthening Congress was necessary for democratic institutions to function in the public interest.
Singareni dispute raised during MLC election meeting
Meanwhile, Ponguleti criticised the previous BRS government over its handling of Singareni Collieries Company Limited. He alleged that the BRS administration had closed 18 mines during its decade in power. He further accused BRS leaders of expressing concern about Singareni despite failing to protect any mines during their tenure.
The minister claimed that the previous government had harmed Singareni by not participating in mine auctions. Therefore, he questioned the BRS leadership’s moral authority to criticise the Congress government on the issue.
In contrast, Ponguleti said the Congress administration had taken steps to strengthen Singareni by participating in auctions for three mines. He also accused the BRS and BJP of operating with a mutual understanding. He urged Congress workers to counter the political strategies of both parties.
Ponguleti referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s campaign against alleged electoral irregularities, including accusations of vote theft. He said Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, among others, had supported the campaign under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.
The minister linked Sarvottama Reddy’s victory to strengthening that political campaign and called for coordinated efforts across the graduate constituency. He also urged Congress workers to remain united in pursuing the party’s goal of making Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister in the future.
Ponguleti reiterated that party leaders and workers should treat the graduate MLC election as a priority. He called for sustained coordination, voter enrolment and first-preference vote mobilisation to secure a large majority for the Congress candidate.