TRS, oppn spar over Urban Local Body polls' outcome

The TRS and opposition Congress and BJP were on Thursday locked in a war of words over the outcome of the recent urban local body polls in Telangana, swept by the ruling party.

The Chandrasekhar Rao-led party took exception to the opposition making light of its massive victory in the municipal elections, while the Congress and BJP alleged that the ruling party indulged in electoral malpractices, including use of money power.

Addressing a gathering at the party headquarters here, TRS working president K T Rama Rao said the Congress and the saffron party had made tall claims about their growing popularity which "fell flat" in the polls.

The opposition allegations against TRS amounted to "insulting" the electorate, he said.

He pointed out that it was TRS that won successive elections in the state, including assembly polls, rural and urban local body elections.

Telangana Congress Chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who spoke at an event here, accused the TRS of winning elections by "distributing money and liquor among voters" and described the trend as a "big threat" to democracy.

He claimed that it was ridiculous that the ruling party was celebrating the polls which were won through "irregularities" and "misuse" of official machinery.

Meanwhile, the BJP state president K Laxman called on Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and sought her intervention to "protect the Constitution."