TDP gets 11 ZP chief posts, Cong. 7, TRS 1

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 23. In an election marked by kidnaps and lack of understanding between the Telangana Rastra Samithi and the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party won the posts of Chairperson of 11 Zilla Parishads, the Congress seven and the TRS one at Nizamabad. Elections for Karimnagar, Chittoor and Ranga Reddy ZP posts were postponed due to lack of quorum.

The Telugu Desam unexpectedly won the Warangal Zilla Parishad, its candidate, E.Basava Reddy, getting elected with 23 votes out of 50, even as Congress and TRS members abstained, seeking time to arrive at an agreement. In this district, the TDP had 21 members while its ally BJP had two. The TRS and the Congress together clearly had a majority of 27. But these two parties decided to abstain. However, three Congress members attended the meeting, thus giving it the necessary quorum with 26 members, but did not participate in the voting. Since there was quorum and there was no other candidate in the fray, the TDP candidate was declared elected.

At Karimnagar, the TRS was the largest party with 22 members out of 56, followed by the Congress with 19, but the Congress leader, Mr. K.Mrutyunjayam, wanted to contest. The 5 BJP members, who were allies of the TDP, however, attended the meeting along with TRS members, taking the total to 27, one short of the quorum required. The TRS people allegedly kidnapped two TDP members, and were bringing them to the venue of the meeting when TDP workers prevented them from going in. The police intervened to disperse the crowd with lathicharge, and incidentally took the two TDP members to the police station.

The president of the TRS, Mr. K.Chandrasekhara Rao, strongly criticised the Congress for playing a ``double game,'' but the president of the APCC, Mr. M.Sathyanarayana Rao, blamed the TRS for laying ``conditions'' which resulted in confusion among the ranks.

At Nizamabad, Mr. S. Santosh Reddy of the TRS was elected unanimously after the 17 members belonging to the Congress and the TDP abstained from voting. The members raised ``Jai Telangana'' slogans, and Mr. Santosh Reddy said that his victory would send a clear signal that the people wanted a separate State.

At Chittoor, where the Congress had 33 members and TDP 32, there would have been an election and easy victory for the Congress nominee, but the Congress members were outside the venue of the meeting hall having an argument for Vice Chairman's post. So, though the 32 TDP members attended the meeting, it was adjourned to July 30.

At Vizianagaram, the chairperson was chosen by lottery, and luck favoured Ms. B.Jhansi, daughter of Mr. Sathyanarayana, MP, for the post. The vice-chairman post went in the lottery to the TDP nominee, Mr. Thottinaidu. The Telugu Desam ZP Chairpersons elected today are: Srikakulam - Mr. Etcherla Venkata Suryanarayana, East Godavari - Mr. Dunna Janardhana Rao, West Godavari - Mr. K.Jayaraju, Krishna - Ms. N.Sudha Rani, Guntur - Mr. Pathuri Nagabushanam, Prakasam - Mr. Mukku Kasi Reddy, Anantapur - Mr. Jonna Sathyanarayana, Kurnool - Mr. Battina Venkataramudu, Mahbubnagar - Ms. Seethamma, Warangal - Mr. Yadaboina Basava Reddy and Adilabad - Mr. Lolam Shyam Sundar.

The Congress ZP Chairpersons: Vizianagaram - Ms. B.Jansi, Visakhapatnam - Mr. V.Kanthamma, Nellore - Mr. Chenchal Babu, Cuddapah - Mr. K.Suresh Babu, Nalgonda - Mr. Vemavarapu Prasanna, Medak - Ms. Suneetha, Khammam - Mr. Chanda Lingiah.

Mr. S.Santosh Reddy of the TRS was elected at Nizamabad.

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Section  : Southern States
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