Hyderabad: Claiming that Congress-backed candidates and Congress rebels have won 8,335 (66 per cent) sarpanch posts in the elections held in 12,702 Gram Panchayats in three phases, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the ruling party stood in the first place in 87 Assembly seats of 94 constituencies in the local body elections. He expressed confidence that the party would repeat the same winning streak in the 2029 Assembly polls.
Addressing the media at his residence along with ministers – Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Damodara Rajanarsimha, Seethakka and others on Thursday, the Chief Minister thanked the people who extended their complete support to the Congress in the Gram Panchayat polls.
“Out of 12,702 Gram Panchayats, 7,527 were won by the Congress and 808 by Congress rebels. Congress and Congress rebels together won 8,335 Gram Panchayats which account for 66 per cent of the total,” he said.
The Chief Minister alleged that the BRS and BJP, which contested the polls in alliance, secured 33 per cent of the sarpanch posts, while the Communists bagged one per cent. According to him, the BRS won 3,511 sarpanch positions, while the BJP secured 710 sarpanch posts. “That way, the BRS-BJP alliance got 4,221 sarpanch positions,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the poll verdict was in favour of the Congress government because of the welfare schemes it had implemented in the last two years. “We provided fine rice through PDS, free electricity, free bus to women, bonus for paddy crop, gas cylinders for Rs 500, Indiramma houses, interest-free loans for women’s self-help groups, implementation of SC categorization, caste census, and other schemes,” he claimed.
Along with the six guarantees, we also provided political freedom to the people as the seventh guarantee, he added. “People crowned the Congress with victory in the Cantonment and Jubilee Hills Assembly byelections. In the local body elections held in 94 Assembly constituencies, the Congress stood first in 87 Assembly seats. The BRS secured the best results only in six constituencies, and the BJP in one constituency only,” he said.
The Chief Minister threw a challenge to BRS chief and former CM K Chandrashekar Rao to come forward for a discussion on river waters and projects. He said he would convene the Assembly session whenever KCR wanted.
