Hyderabad: The ruling Congress on Thursday
suffered a setback in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation (GHMC) winning just 52 seats, while main
Opposition TDP made a strong come back, bagging 45 in the 150-
member civic body.
The Congress, facing the first electoral test after
the death of its popular leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in
September, was far off the half-way mark of 75. In run-up to
the election on November 23, the party had expressed
confidence of winning 100 seats in the expanded GHMC.
The Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen, a local outfit,
retained its hold in the Muslim-dominated localities,
including the Old City, by winning 43 seats.
BJP, which desperately tried to regain lost glory in
the city, was left badly bruised and managed only five seats.
Actor Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) barely
managed to open its account with a solitary win.
The Lok Satta Party, that came up with the slogan of
'Governance at your doorstep', drew a blank.
Interestingly, Congress 'rebels' won from two
divisions, Bholakpur and Charlapalli. They were among the four
Independents who made it to the GHMC, one of the top civic
bodies in the country.
The counting of the votes was taken up this morning.
The final tally was: Congress-52, TDP-45, MIM-43, BJP-5,
PRP-1 and Others-4.
The low voter turnout (around 42 per cent) impacted the
fortunes of all parties. Though it was expected that the low
turnout would benefit the ruling party, the results showed
otherwise.
Prior to the election, Congress projected a tally of 100
seats for itself, but reduced it to 80-85 at the end of the
polling. The final result has certainly come as a shocker to
the party leaders who banked heavily on the "development"
agenda as well as the sympathy caused by the death of
Rajasekhara Reddy.
With 14 MLAs and three Lok Sabha members representing the
Greater Hyderabad region, the Congress' prospect of winning
was good, but the TDP – which did not have a single legislator
from the region - heavily dented the party's prospects.
Interestingly, Congress' trump card Y S Jaganmohan Reddy
failed to work wonders as the party candidates lost in most of
the civic divisions where the Rajasekhara Reddy's MP-son
campaigned.
Even in assembly segments that were considered Congress'
strongholds, TDP made inroads. In Maheshwaram, represented by
state Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu's
party clinched both the civic wards, while in L B Nagar
constituency, TDP won seven of the eight wards.
In Kukatpally Assembly segment, represented by Lok Satta
Party President N Jayaprakash Narayan, the TDP won five
divisions and Congress one.
The GHMC, which came into being in April 2007 after the
merger of new areas from the neighbouring districts in the
civic limit, has 150 wards, up from 100 in the erstwhile
Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad.
GHMC has an annual budget of more than Rs 2,500 crore.
The Mayor will be elected by the corporators in an
indirect election on December 4.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 18:17