Uncertainty about today's ZP polls

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 1. The twice postponed elections to the Karimnagar and Chittoor Zilla Parishads are to take place tomorrow, but it is still uncertain whether the election will be held and chairpersons elected.

At Karimnagar, where the Telangana Rastra Samithi with 22 seats and the Congress with 19 seats are trying to wrest the chairmanship, both parties are talking of winning the ZP. The TRS is hoping that the Congress and other parties would attend the meeting to provide the necessary quorum for the election to be held, while the Congress is hoping for a division in the other groups in its favour.

The election at Chittoor will depend on the attitude of the two ZPTC members loyal to the local MLA, Mr. C.K. Babu. He came to Hyderabad to talk to Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and Dr. Reddy said that the issue was resolved whereas Mr. Babu was not as categorical. Mr. Babu has differed with the choice of the vice- chairperson arrived at by Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy and the APCC president, Mr. M. Sathyanarayana Rao.

Meanwhile, filing of nominations began for election to the posts of Sarpanch of 21,000 gram panchayats in the State. The ballot papers will contain no names of candidates, but only general symbols. The Congress has objected to this procedure as being arbitrary, causing confusion among voters, but the State Election Commission says it cannot print ballot papers for the election to about two lakh wards in the villages, apart from names of candidates contesting for posts of sarpanch at such short notice.

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