The dreams of the Congress to clinch the Jangaon municipality seem to have been shattered with the three Independents, who won on Saturday, deciding to sail with the ruling TRS.
It may be noted that of the total 30 municipal wards, TRS won 13, Congress 10, BJP four and Independents three.
The Congress reportedly planned to clinch the chairperson seat by taking the help of MLA A. Narasimha Reddy, who won from United Teachers Front (UTF), and party MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, besides roping in the three Independents taking the total to 15 votes.
However, the Independents decided to sail with the TRS. Now, the ruling party will have 16 plus two co-option votes – MLC B. Venkateswarlu and MLA M. Yadagiri Reddy, thus taking the total to 18 votes, easily securing the chairperson seat.
The Congress leadership had offered the chairperson post to elected councillors whoever was ready to rope in the Independents by bearing their election expenditure but none came forward viewing it as a risky affair. They, in fact, wanted the party leadership to finalise the deal before offering the chairperson post to them.
Congress lost its tally from 14 in 2014 to 10 in 2020 while the TRS improved from a mere six to 13. In 2014, the BJP won four wards and Independents three. They retained their tally while the CPI (M) that won one ward in 2014 lost it this time. The total number of wards was 28 in 2014 and now, it has gone up to 30 wards in Jangaon municipality.
Jangaon is next to Aler and is the first town close to State capital Hyderabad. However, it did not see much development. The roads remain narrow with a bad drainage system and drinking water shortage is still being faced.
