Hyderabad, April 6: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has successfully secured the chairperson position in Khanapur Municipality, Telangana, with the backing of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The chairperson elections took place on Sunday under tight security.
BJP candidate Ankam Monica was elected chairperson after receiving support from both BJP and BRS councilors. The two parties reached an agreement for the chairperson and vice-chairperson roles, resulting in BRS candidate Mohammad Shoaib being chosen as vice-chairperson.
Khanapur was one of the municipalities where no clear mandate emerged from the urban local body elections held in February. In the 12-member municipal council, both BRS and BJP won four seats each, while the ruling Congress party secured three seats. An independent candidate also won a seat.
With the support of the independent councilor and an additional vote, Congress’s strength increased to five. A BRS councilor also backed Congress, raising the total support for the Congress candidate to six.
However, the BJP managed to secure the chairperson position with the support of three BRS councilors, while assisting the BRS candidate in becoming vice-chairperson. This marks the BJP’s second municipal victory in the state.
Congress MLA Vedma Bhojju from Khanapur criticized the BJP-BRS alliance, labeling it as ‘love jihad’ and alleging that both parties intimidated councilors to win the elections.
BJP state president N. Ramchander Rao stated that despite Congress’s misuse of power and illegal strategies, the lotus bloomed in Khanapur. He posted on social media platform ‘X’, saying, “This victory is significant because, despite all illegal attempts by the Congress MLA, our dedicated workers stood firm and made the lotus bloom with pride.”
Khanapur was among three municipalities where the elections for chairperson and vice-chairperson could not be completed last month due to a divided mandate.
The main opposition party, BRS, also claimed chairperson and vice-chairperson positions in Ibrahimpatnam and Kyathampally municipalities on Saturday. In Ibrahimpatnam, BRS councilor T. Sudarshan Reddy was elected chairperson, while BJP’s Muthyala Shyama became vice-chairperson.
The BRS-CPI alliance took control of the Kyathampally municipality in Mancherial district. In the February elections, the ruling Congress party captured over 90 of the 115 municipalities and six out of seven municipal corporations.
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Arpit Soni has had a passion for journalism since the beginning. Now he has turned this hobby into his profession. Arpit, who is a resident of Udaipur, enjoys editing and writing news related to journalism. He has worked as a Senior Content Producer in several important roles at Bhaskar, Patrika, Pratahkal, Punjab Kesari, and Times. Arpit completed his schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur. He has been working in the media industry for more than 10 years, and his journey is still continuing. ✍️📚
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