Telangana Municipal Polls Set for Feb 11, Results on Feb 13

Elections are scheduled for 116 municipalities and seven corporations, and nominations will be accepted from January 27 to January 30.

On Monday last week, the Telangana State cabinet decided to conduct municipal elections at the earliest and directed officials to complete all necessary arrangements by February.

The decision came after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy at Medaram in Mulugu district on January 18, according to highlights of the meeting shared by the 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 the Ramzan and Maha Shivaratri festivals fall in February, officials were instructed to prepare the election schedule to ensure the electoral process is carried out smoothly without causing inconvenience to the public.

On the other hand, the Cabinet announced that the Godavari Pushkaralu will be held from July 27 to August 3, 2027, and decided to develop major and ancient temples, along with eco-tourism initiatives, across the Godavari river belt from Basara to Bhadrachalam. It was resolved to develop the stretch as a single circuit.

Officials from the Endowments, Revenue, Forest, Tourism and Archaeology departments were directed to jointly prepare a detailed report, while the Chief Minister instructed that a comprehensive development plan be prepared by March 31.

Earlier, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy announced that the Central Government has significantly increased funding for Telangana's local bodies. Compared with previous years, the budget for these rural offices has increased by 80 per cent to ₹9,050 crore.

The Centre has allocated over Rs 11,000 crore to Gram Panchayats and local bodies in the state over the past decade. Reddy said that the timely release of funds would improve accountability and transparency at the grassroots level.

"The Government of India (GoI) has taken the decision to release funds for strengthening Gram Panchayats and local bodies in Telangana. Over the past decade, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the GoI has allocated more than ₹11,000 crore to Gram Panchayats and local bodies in the state.

In the period between 2015-16 and 2019-20, ₹5,060 crore was released, while allocations for the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26 increased by 80 per cent to ₹9,050 crore, of which ₹6,051 crore has already been released", Reddy stated.

The Minister further added that the first instalment of ₹260 crore for 2024-25 would be released shortly by the Union Government, following the completion of local body elections in Telangana and the submission of Utilisation Certificates for 2023-24. The remaining amount of approximately ₹2,500 crore would be released in a phased manner upon further submission of Utilisation Certificates.

- ANI