TRS has weakened panchayat raj system in Telangana: TPCC chief Uttam Kumar

He was addressing a meeting at Gandhi Bhavan on 14 December along with AICC Panchayat Raj Sanghathan vice-chairman Harshwardhan, state in-charge Kiran, state chairman Harish, TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar, MLC T. Jeevan Reddy, MLA Jagga Reddy, and other leaders. They discussed the systematic weakening of local bodies and insulting of sarpanches, MPTCs, ZPTCs by the TRS government and non-allocation of state funds to mandal and zilla parishads. The PR Sanghatan has decided to hold a protest on 22 December at Indira Park to highlight these issues.

Alleging that the state government was not clearing the bills of panchayats, Mr. Uttam claimed it was not even releasing funds released by the finance commission. Mandal and zilla parishads are in extremely bad shape with neither funds nor powers, he said, adding that the Congress will organise a day-long protest on 22 December to highlight the problems of panchayat raj institutions and would also submit a memorandum to the Governor.

The TPCC chief alleged that the KCR government has completely crushed the panchayat raj system in Telangana and said the TRS leaders were looting the panchayats and forcing them to buy tractors, LEDs, and other material from agencies of their choice so that they could get their commissions. Politics has become a business after K. Chandrashekhar Rao became the Chief Minister, he said.

Stating that elected representatives of rural areas not only keep track of the problems being faced by the people but also understand the people's pulse, he said the Congress was in support of all sarpanches and other local leaders. Mr. Uttam alleged that the TRS government in the state was harassing elected representatives of the Congress and pressuring them to join the ruling party. He said that the Congress would strongly counter the state's efforts to force elected representatives of other parties to defect to the ruling party. Such practices pose a major threat to the survival of democracy in Telangana, he added.

The MP said the Congress would return to power in the next elections and the TRS would become extinct. KCR's family will also go into political oblivion, he said. The TPCC chief claimed that the Congress has a strong presence in every village of Telangana and it is still the biggest party in the state in terms of its cadre and network.

The TPCC chief said that at least once a month or in two months meetings should be held with sarpanches and other village leaders to discuss their problems. He said the ideology of the Congress should be taken to all villages. Local problems should be taken up and efforts should be made to resolve them, Mr. Uttam said while stressing on strengthening the party in rural areas to enable it to return to power in the next elections. He also urged the party cadre to stay among the people and make efforts to resolve their problems.