TRS sweeps Hyderabad civil elections

The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has created a history by winning majority seats in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, which were held on February 2.

Just hours after the counting of votes began on Friday evening, the trends had given a 90-plus seat tally for TRS in the 150 seat local body. The party had almost no representation in the GHMC in all the previous elections. The electoral outcome indicates a clear shift in political dynamics even in Hyderabad city, which is known for its cross cultural heredity.

The Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has an electoral understanding with the TRS, has emerged as the second largest party with the counting trends giving it a 30-plus seat tally.

 

Meanwhile, these elections have marked a complete rout of Congress and the Telugu Desam Party, both of which had their Mayors in Hyderabad when they ruled the undivided Andhra Pradesh state. The Congress and the TDP were managed to win just one seat each by the time the results for more than 130 seats were out. Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), which had a strong presence in Hyderabad in the past, relegated to just 4 seats.

Around 49 per cent out of the total 7.42 million electorate had utilised their voting right in the prestigious GHMC elections, which were held first time after the state bifurcation. The corporation is expected to have a Rs 5,500 crore budget in the new financial year.

The TRS has followed a tried and tested strategy of forging an electoral understanding with MIM, which has a considerable hold among the local muslims, who form almost 45 per cent of the Hyderabad population.

Also, in a bid to win over the votes from among 2 million plus migrant population hailing from Andhra region, the TRS leadership had not only given up the local, non-local argument for the first time in this election, but had also issued party tickets to close to 15 candidates hailing from coastal Andhra, in such divisions where a substantial number of voters of Andhra origin were living.

There were political speculations about TRS and MIM coming together to win the Mayor and other posts in case of the former fell short of a majority.

The TRS government headed by K Chandrasekhara Rao yesterday issued the orders making the party MLCs as ex-officio members giving them the voting right in the Mayor elections to eliminate any possibility of not getting a majority in the elections. However, a clear 80 plus seat tally has given a complete mandate for TRS, which no more required to depend on its ally MIM for winning the Mayor post.

"People of all religions and regions have voted in favour of TRS as we were working with a single point agenda of developing Hyderabad city," minister K T Rama Rao, who is the son of chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao and also the face of TRS in Hyderabad elections, said while commenting on the sweeping victory of the party.

The TRS government had launched a media blitzkrieg across the city almost two months ahead of the elections outshining all the opposition parties in the process.