Hyderabad: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy expressed strong displeasure over the failure of several Congress MLAs and constituency in-charges to control party rebels during the recent sarpanch elections.
The Chief Minister reviewed the panchayat election results through a teleconference along with PCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud and AICC Telangana affairs in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan. After the meeting, Mahesh Kumar Goud said the three leaders discussed the results in detail and identified serious coordination lapses.
He said the leadership expressed dissatisfaction with MLAs and constituency in-charges who failed to manage rebels. Moreover, he said the Chief Minister and Meenakshi Natarajan were unhappy with the performance of 18 MLAs during the panchayat polls.
Congress leadership warns MLAs over sarpanch election lapses
Mahesh Kumar Goud said he spoke to the 18 MLAs and in-charges over the phone. He conveyed that their actions caused avoidable damage to the party. Therefore, the leadership directed them to change their approach and follow party discipline strictly.
Meanwhile, Meenakshi Natarajan reportedly said opposition parties gained due to poor handling of rebels. She also took a strong line with leaders from Warangal, Nalgonda, and Palamuru regions.
Sources said she warned leaders against repeating such mistakes. She reportedly said lack of coordination with rebels and fielding relatives as candidates led to losses in winnable seats.
The sarpanch elections were held in three phases on the 11th, 14th, and 17th of this month. In the combined results, Congress won 7,491 seats. BRS secured 3,494 seats, while BJP won 749 seats. Others won 956 seats.
Overall, the ruling party secured nearly two-thirds of the seats. Meanwhile, candidates backed by BRS and BJP won about one-third of the total.