Congress leaders hopeful of "getting more than 70 per cent seats" in Telangana's Nizamabad Municipal polls

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 22 (ANI): As the Congress party in Telangana gears up for the upcoming Nizamabad Municipal Elections, party leaders say that they are hopeful of winning more than 70 per cent seats as they see a "wave" in urban areas after the implementation of multiple welfare schemes.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress party held a review meeting in Hyderabad to discuss the strategies for the upcoming polls. The expected candidates and senior party functionaries attended the meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, the party's state headquarters.
"Our target is to win around 70-80 per cent of seats in the municipal elections. There is a wave in favour of Congress, as we saw the panchayat election results, where we won 73 per cent seats. In Urban (areas) there is more of an effect, because of the ration card, giving houses to people, giving 200 units of free electricity to muslim basti's. So we hope that the schemes have a positive effect) on the Congress," party leader Mohammad Ali Shabbir told ANI after the meeting.
The party has identified 17 Parliamentary constituencies where they would be working, with meetings to be held across various areas. Multiple Telangana ministers are set to attend the meeting too, according to Shabbir.
"The start of this has happened in the Nizamabad parliament (constituency). There are 17 such constituencies like that, second meets are set to happen there," Shabbir added.
Telangana Congress president Bomma Maheshkumar Goud said that a "fruitful meeting" took place, and after taking everyone's opinions into account, they will start to campaign for elections. "It was a fruitful meeting, we have taken the opinion of contesting candidates, senior party functionaries, we will take them into account and go for winning elections," he informed ANI.
Nizamabad Corporation comprises of 60 wards. The Corporation is currently led by BRS mayor Neetu Kiran, with AIMIM's Mohd Idrees Khan as the deputy. AIMIM, BRS, Congress, along with one Independent member, form the majority in NMC at 32 seats total, while the BJP is in the opposition with 28 seats.
NMC local elections were last held in January 2025.
Notably, the Telangana State Cabinet has decided to conduct municipal elections at the earliest and directed officials to complete all necessary arrangements by February. The decision came after a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy at Medaram in Mulugu district on January 18, according to highlights of the meeting shared by Telangana Chief Minister's Office.
Elections are due in 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations across the State, covering 2,996 wards and divisions whose terms have expired. The Cabinet noted that the reservation process has already been completed as per the Dedicated Commission's report.
As Ramzan and Maha Shivaratri festivals fall in February, officials were instructed to prepare the election schedule in a manner that ensures the electoral process is carried out smoothly without causing inconvenience to the public. (ANI)