Jagtial: Ahead of municipal polls, Congress veteran Jeevan Reddy, MLA Dr M Sanjay Kumar locked in bitter political battle

Jagtial: Ahead of municipal polls, Congress veteran T Jeevan Reddy and MLA Dr M Sanjay Kumar are locked in a bitter political battle in Jagtial.

Dr M Sanjay Kumar, who switched from Bharat Rashtra Samithi to Congress, has been engaged in a bitter war of words with Reddy ever since he joined the party.

It must be noted that Jagtial is the stronghold of the Congress. With municipal polls just days away, the Congress old guard feels displaced by the people whom they opposed.

The "B-Form" submissions

On February 3, there was major chaos in Jagtial as dozens of aspirants who were denied tickets gathered outside Jeevan Reddy’s residence, some threatening self-immolation. The tension forced the party to make a frantic, last-minute candidate swap in the 26th ward, but the move only shifted the anger to a different group of supporters.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee members and president B Mahesh Goud were in frantic back-to-back calls to resolve the issues at the ground level. In over a dozen wards, "rebel" candidates—denied the official B-form—have filed as Independents.

"We stayed with the party when it was in the wilderness," said one disgruntled aspirant from Ward 15. "Now that the party is in power, the MLA's friends, who joined yesterday, are getting the B-forms. We will not back down," said another member. The old Congress cadre has been at loggerheads with the new Congress cadre since 2024.

Earlier when there were issues, Congress party veteran T Jeevan Reddy wrote to the Indian National Congress party president, Mallikarjun Kharge, and LoP Rahul Gandhi to inform them about the issues in the district in Telangana.

The municipal elections have reopened the old wounds, and despite there being attempts to pacify them, there are many who are not happy with the decisions taken by the Congress leadership in the state.

CM late-night intervention

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who is launching the party's statewide municipal campaign today from Miryalaguda, is expected to address the Jagtial crisis. The opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party are closely watching the split in the Congress vote bank in its stronghold.

"There have been lots of efforts made in the past to pacify Jeevan Reddy and his cadre. Attempts are being made now, too. This municipality, the Congress was expected to sweep, but due to this old versus new, there is a split being noticed in the votes," Congress sources said.

Jagtial Municipality 2026

Total Municipal Wards: 48 (some administrative records list 50, but 48 are contested in this cycle).

Total Candidates: Approximately 210+ candidates filed nominations across all wards in Jagtial, including major parties and independents.

Rebels: Roughly 12 to 15 wards are currently identified as high-tension "problem wards" where both Congress loyalists and MLA followers claim legitimacy.

Last-minute change: The 26th Ward became the face of the crisis after a last-minute B-form replacement sparked public outrage. Other sensitive wards include Ward 8, Ward 15, and Ward 32, where rebel candidates have refused to withdraw.

Ticket Split: T Jeevan Reddy publicly claimed that out of the 48/50 wards, 30 tickets were handed to the MLA's followers (mostly former BRS members), leaving only 18–20 tickets for long-time Congress loyalists.