Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the Congress won 66 percent of gram panchayats in the rural local body elections.
Of the 12,702 gram panchayats where elections were held in three phases this month, Congress-backed candidates won 7,527, while rebel candidates of the party secured 808 villages, he said.
“Whether it is urban or rural, in the prestigious polls held over the last two years, people have supported our government,” the chief minister said, addressing a press conference here.
This brings the total number of gram panchayats won by Congress to 8,335, he added.
Alleging that the BRS and BJP contested the polls as an alliance, he said the two parties won 3,511 and 710 gram panchayats respectively.
Together, the two opposition parties won 4,221 gram panchayats, accounting for 33 per cent of the total, he added.
Recalling the two assembly bypoll victories since Congress came to power in 2023, the chief minister said people have consistently endorsed the party, including in the gram panchayat elections.
He attributed Congress’s success to the welfare schemes being implemented by his government.
Owing to legal hurdles related to the state government’s proposal to provide 42 percent reservation to Backward Classes in local bodies, the Telangana government on November 17 decided to hold elections only for Gram Panchayats, deferring polls for other rural local bodies, including Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) members.
The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) earlier in the day said an overall voter turnout of 85.30 per cent was recorded in the polls held on December 11, 14, and 17.
Officials said over 1.66 crore voters, including more than 81.42 lakh male voters and over 85.12 lakh female voters, were eligible to cast their votes.
The elections, held on a non-party basis, were for about 12,700 Sarpanch (village panchayat presidents) and 1.12 lakh ward members.
CM Revanth’s challenge to KCR
CM Revanth challenged BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) to a public debate on the alleged injustice to Telangana in the sharing and utilisation of Krishna and Godavari river waters during the BRS’s 10-year rule.
“Telangana was denied its rightful share under the previous regime. I call upon KCR to write a letter as an opposition leader. We are ready for a discussion on who committed injustice regarding Krishna and Godavari waters by holding a special session anytime,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
