Ensure ‘Rebels’ in Municipal Polls Withdraw Nominations Before Feb 3

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday directed ministers and senior Congress leaders to immediately engage with rebels in the upcoming municipal elections and persuade them to withdraw their nominations before the February 3 deadline, stressing that only one authorised Congress nominee should remain in the fray in each ward/division to ensure victory. He said each rebel contestant must be contacted and convinced through dialogue to maintain unity. Revanth Reddy, currently in the United States, was speaking at a nearly two-hour-long review meeting online with ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, DCC presidents and senior party leaders to assess preparedness for the municipal polls scheduled for February 11 and to fine-tune the party’s election strategy.Revanth Reddy instructed leaders to treat the municipal elections as prestigious contests and avoid shortcomings in candidate selection. He said nominees must be chosen based on winnability, loyalty to the party and balanced social representation, and made it clear that there should be no compromise in identifying strong candidates capable of taking on rivals from the BJP and BRS. He advised the leadership to counter opposition tactics with effective ground-level strategies and ensure that Congress fields equally competitive contenders in every local body segment.Revanth Reddy also called for special focus on municipalities where the party organisation was weak and underlined that victory in every ward and division is important. He directed leaders to take government welfare schemes door-to-door and close gaps between Parliament constituency in-charges, ministers and local leaders to strengthen coordination. More than 24,000 nominations have been filed for 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations across the state, with the nomination process concluding on Friday. Due to the tight three-day window available after the election schedule was announced, the party could not complete full-scale consultations everywhere, resulting in multiple aspirants filing papers in several places. While nominations were filed with consensus in a majority of divisions, a significant number of segments have more than one Congress hopeful in the race. In some areas, in-charges reportedly encouraged all ticket aspirants to file nominations initially, with a plan to finalise one candidate later.With the February 3 withdrawal deadline approaching, the party leadership has instructed screening committees and constituency in-charges to intensify coordination efforts and ensure that only officially approved candidates remain. Party sources said lessons have been drawn from the recent gram panchayat elections, where rebel entries and lack of coordination cost the Congress many seats. The party leadership stressed that such setbacks must not be repeated in the municipal polls, which will be held on party symbols. From February 3, the campaign is expected to gather momentum, with designated star campaigners including Revanth Reddy touring the districts from February 4 to 9 for campaigning



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