Andhra Pradesh   

Congress bags 17 out of 19 ZP chief posts in A.P.

Special Correspondent

Telugu Desam wins Adilabad and Ranga Reddy ZPs

HYDERABAD: The Congress sprang a surprise on Monday by winning the Anantapur Zilla Parishad while luck favoured the ruling party nominee in Khammam where lottery was drawn to break the impasse caused by a tie in votes.

In an election marked by suspense and drama in at least six districts, Congress nominees were elected ZP Chairpersons in 17 out of 19 ZPs where elections were held while the TDP had to remain content with Ranga Reddy and Adilabad districts. Elections have been rescheduled in Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal for want of quorum as Congress and TRS members abstained following differences.

The Congress thus made a clean sweep of all 13 Zilla Parishads in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. Prominent among those elected was Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi, wife of Marketing Minister B. Satyanarayana of the Congress, from Vizianagaram.

The TDP leadership was caught unawares when two of its ZPTC members in Anantapur defected to the Congress at the last moment. As a result, it had to concede the chairmanship to Congress party's T. Kavitha although it held 33 out of 63 ZPTCs. The TDP accused Congress Ministers J. C. Diwakar Reddy and N. Raghuveera Reddy of resorting to horse-trading while the Congress claimed that the TDP leadership humiliated the members who crossed over.

In Khammam, sheer luck favoured the ruling party nominee G. Vijaya Lakshmi who was elected Chairperson through draw of lots among three contenders. In a body in which the TDP-CPI (M) combine was tied at 22 votes with the Congress-CPI-TRS alliance, the former could secure one post each of co-opted member. The result came as a setback to the CPI (M) that secured 14 ZPTCs in a prestigious contest. It failed to win the posts of Vice-Chairperson or co-opted members in any of the ZPs, barring one in Khammam. In contrast, the CPI benefited from its alliance with the Congress by winning two vice-chairpersons posts, including one in Nalgonda, and co-opted members in seven districts.

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