Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is set to conduct district-wise meetings with Congress MLAs on Thursday to assess the party’s preparedness for the upcoming local body and MLC elections. The meetings will also focus on aggressively promoting the Congress government’s achievements, including the Scheduled Castes (SC) sub-categorisation and the caste census, which were completed within 14 months of the party coming to power.The meetings will commence at 3 pm at the MCRHRDI, Jubilee Hills, and will continue until 7 pm. Revanth Reddy plans to cover up to three districts per hour, beginning with Adilabad, Nizamabad, and Khammam districts and concluding with Rangareddy and Mahabubnagar districts.This marks the first time that Revanth Reddy is holding district-wise meetings with party MLAs since the Congress government assumed office in December 2023. Reports of differences between ministers and party MLAs in certain districts have surfaced, causing concern among party cadres ahead of the local body elections. To address these issues and strengthen party unity, Revanth Reddy aims to resolve internal conflicts and boost morale through these meetings.The Congress government is keen on consolidating support from Backward Classes (BCs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs), who collectively constitute nearly 85 per cent of Telangana’s population. By showcasing its swift action on caste census and SC sub-categorisation, the party hopes to bolster its electoral prospects. The Congress had promised these initiatives in its November 2023 Assembly election manifesto and successfully implemented them within 14 months of taking office.Official sources indicate that the election schedule for gram panchayats, zilla parishads (ZPs), and mandal parishads (MPs) will be announced after February 15. However, it remains uncertain whether gram panchayat elections will be held first or if ZP and MP elections will precede them.Speculation within Congress circles suggests that Revanth Reddy prefers conducting Zilla Parishad and Mandal Parishad elections first, followed by gram panchayat elections.Notably, ZP and MP elections will be contested on a party-symbol basis, while gram panchayat elections will be held on a non-party basis. Given this backdrop, the upcoming meetings with MLAs hold significant political importance.The Congress government, which came to power in Telangana in December 2023, has successfully addressed long-pending issues related to caste census and SC sub-categorisation. The caste census was conducted for the first time in Telangana, while the SC sub-categorisation issue, which had remained unresolved for over three decades since the early 1990s, was tackled swiftly by CM Revanth Reddy-led Congress government.On February 4, the Chief Minister tabled the caste census and SC sub-categorisation reports in the Legislative Assembly, securing their passage through a voice vote. He further assured that the government would soon introduce legislation to implement SC sub-categorisation, extending reservations to SC sub-castes in education and employment.
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