Telangana municipal polls: Rebels refuse to bow out, parties fear vote-split

Hyderabad: Despite over 6,700 candidates withdrawing from the electoral fray on Tuesday, rebels remained in contention in many wards and divisions across various urban local bodies, posing a major challenge for the Congress, BRS, BJP and other parties in avoiding or minimising vote splits. The leadership of the Congress, BRS, BJP and other parties has assigned the task of cajoling the rebels and neutralising their impact on official candidates to the respective in-charges of each ULB.According to reports reaching the Telangana State Election Commission from 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations till late at night, as many as 6,701 candidates had withdrawn their nominations, with more reports still awaited. A total of 29,694 nominations were filed on the final day of the process.
After the withdrawals, over 12,900 candidates from various political parties and independents are likely to be in the electoral fray. While the Congress, BRS and BJP have fielded candidates from all the ULBs, other parties such as CPI, CPM, AIMIM, AIFB, and Telangana Jagruti are contesting in several wards of some ULBs, with Telangana Jagruti contesting on the AIFB election symbol.The Election Commission is allotting election symbols to the independent candidates. Municipal elections are contested using recognised party symbols. Candidates from the Congress, BRS, BJP and other parties rushed to submit B-forms, as Tuesday was the last day for both B-form submission and withdrawal of candidature.Meanwhile, DGP Sivadhar Reddy instructed police officers to ensure that the municipal elections are conducted effectively and strictly in accordance with the law. TPCC president B Mahesh Goud said the party would resolve the standoff between party veteran T Jeevan Reddy and Jagtial MLA Sanjay Kumar. Jeevan was reportedly unhappy that MLAs who defected to the party were allotted 30 tickets, while he was given only 20."We have been able to give B-forms to 99% of the candidates. We have resolved the problem in Gadwal. There is no rebel issue in the Congress. In fact, there is no competition to the Congress from any party, and we are poised to win 95% seats," Mahesh Goud claimed.The last day for B-forms submission and withdrawal of candidatures saw some aspirants attempting suicide by consuming pesticide, pouring kerosene and petrol on themselves, staging dharna on roads, issuing threats, and abusing the party leadership after being denied B-forms. Many of them remained in the electoral fray and did not withdraw, and such rebels belonged to all the parties.