Hyderabad: The Congress on Thursday demanded that the state government hold the proposed gram panchayat polls on party basis, and direct elections to the post of sarpanch using ballot papers and not electronic voting machines.

This followed a meeting of TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy with senior leaders Mallu Bhatti Vikra-marka, K. Jana Reddy and Shabbir Ali to take stock of the situation ahead of the elections.





After the meeting, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said the term of the gram panchayats and sarpanches would end by August and it would be proper for the government to hold polls as scheduled instead of cutting short their term and holding the polls in February,

He claimed that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was selectively leaking information to the media that the elections would be indirect and on non-party basis. He alleged that Mr Rao by holding indirect elections wanted to “buy” ward members like he did in the case of MLAs and MPs elected from other parties.

He accused the CM of destroying the PR system by not releasing grants to them.