Hyderabad: Counting of the votes cast in Tuesday’s Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) municipal polls began on Friday amid tight security.
Counting of the votes cast in all 150 divisions began at 8 a.m. at 30 places in the city with the Telangana State Election Commission deploying over 8,000 personnel.
| Party | Won |
| TRS | 55 |
| MIM | 44 |
| BJP | 48 |
| Congress | 2 |
Live updates
9: 40 pm: According to the latest official figures, results of 149 out of 150 seats have been declared. The BJP has won a total of 48 seats; TRS 55; AIMIM 44; and the Congress 02.
The result of the Neredmet division where TRS was leading has been halted as ballot papers with distinguishing markers were found in the majority instead of ‘arrow cross-mark rubber stamp’.
8: 40 pm: TRS working president KT Rama Rao said, “Result is certainly not what we expected, we’re short of 20-25 seats.”
8: 35 pm: Amit Shah hails BJP for the impressive show in the GHMC polls.
8: 00 pm According to official figures, results of 146 out of 150 have been declared so far. The BJP’s tally has reached 46, while the TRS has won 56 seats so far. AIMIM has secured 42, and Congress has won 2 seats.
7: 15 pm: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy has resigned from the post. This comes after the Congress party secured a win in just two seats in the GHMC elections.
6:21 pm: According to unconfirmed reports, of the results declared in 134 divisions, TRS remains on top with 51 seats but BJP tremendously picked up with 40 seats in its bag.
6:09 pm: Only 15-vote lead for BJP in BN Reddy Nagar division, TRS obstructs declaration of results.
5:17 pm: However, State Election Commission officially declared results for 75 Divisions out of 150. TRS: 26, BJP: 16, MIM: 31 and Congress: 2.
5: 13 pm: As the counting of votes is reaching an end, BJP improves its tally tremendously to 25. TRS and MIM however retain their top two positions at 42 and 39 respectively. So far, results have been announced for 108 divisions, according to unconfirmed reports.
4:10 pm: BJP wins in Adikmet division; tally improves to six.
3:49 pm: Congress wins another seat from Uppal division.
3:40 pm: BJP improves its tally to five, wins Jeedimetla and Gachibowli divisions.
03:00 pm: BJP opens tally. Bags Malkajigiri, Chaitanyapuri and Gowlipura divisions. TRS wins ten divisions and MIM bagged 23 so far.
02:28 pm: TRS candidate Baba Fasiuddin wins from Borabanda division. MIM candidate Abdul Hannan bags Nawab Sahab Kunta seat.
01:58 pm: MIM’s Hafeez Patel wins from Barkas division.
01:55 pm: Syed Sohail Quadri of MIM bags Pathergatti division seat.
01:53 pm: Mirza Saleem Baig of MIM wins from Riyasat Nagar division.
01:51 pm: AIMIM candidate Hussaini Pasha wins Kishanbagh division seat.
01:50 pm: MIM won three more seats from Barkas, Chandrayangutta and Puranapul divisions.
From Barkas, Hafeez Patel become victorious candidate whereas, Abdul Wahab and Sunnam Raj Mohan won from Chandrayangutta and Puranapul divisions respectively.
01:21 pm: MIM won seats from Mehdipatnam, Dabeerpura and Ahmed Nagar divisions.
01:18 pm: MIM candidate Mirza Mustafa Baig won Dabeerpura division seat
01:04 pm: Congress opens tally. Sirisha Reddy bags AS Rao Nagar division seat.
TRS candidate Sunitha wins from Mettuguda division.
01:00 pm: TRS leads in 69 seats whereas, BJP, MIM and Congress in 39, 32 and two seats respectively. MIM also won one seat.
12:49 pm: TRS leads in 47 seats whereas, BJP and MIM in 21 seats each.
12:24 pm: TRS candidate Rajkumar Patel won from Yousufguda division
12:13 pm: MIM candidate and former Hyderabad Mayor Majid Hussain won first seat in GHMC polls. He won from Mehdipatnam division
12:09 pm: TRS leading in 21 wards whereas, BJP and MIM in seven seats each.
12:04 pm: TRS leading in 15 seats whereas, BJP and MIM in 6 and 2 seats respectively as counting of ballot votes begins.
11:51 am: BJP National Spokesperson tweeted, “bhagyanagar/Hyderabad. #BhagyanagarWithBJP”.
11:24 am: BJP leading in 88 seats whereas, TRS and MIM in 32 and 17 seats respectively.
11:10 am: Telangana BJP MP D Arvind said, “the transformation has started in the state of Telangana. You have seen Lok Sabha election results then Dubbaka by-election & now GHMC. Let us wait till the evening, but it is clear message to TRS that people want change”.
10:56 am: Police Commissioners of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda appealed to political parties not to take out any victory rally till the completion of 48 hours after election results.
10:30 am: The BJP established early leads in 69 divisions as postal ballots were taken up for counting before opening the ballot boxes. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was ahead in 31 divisions and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in 10 divisions.
It may be mentioned that it is an early trends as only counting of postal ballots commenced.
Since paper ballots were used in the elections, the results are likely be known only late in the evening.
Postal ballots were first taken up for counting. The authorities have arranged 150 counting halls with 14 tables in each hall.
State Election Commissioner C. Parthasarthy said a counting supervisor and two assistants were deployed at each table.
Security arrangements
Police have made elaborate security arrangements in the city in view of the counting.
Prohibitory orders and traffic restrictions were imposed around counting centres.
Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda police have imposed a ban on victory rallies for the next 48 hours.
Out of a total 74.67 lakh voters, 46.55 per cent has cast their votes in 149 divisions on Tuesday.
Polling in one division was stopped due to discrepancy in ballot paper and re-poll was held on Thursday.
The day will decide the political fortunes of 1,122 candidates.
The bitterly contested elections saw a high-decibel campaign with the participation of several central ministers and top national leaders of the BJP.
Union Ministers Amit Shah, Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani; BJP president J.P. Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have campaigned for the BJP, which fought hard to wrest the key municipal body from ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Congress, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were among the other major contesting parties.
The campaign saw no-hold-barred attack by political opponents. Remarks by some leaders created controversies.
The promise by BJP leaders to change the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar if the party voted to power also sparked a row.
In the 2016 elections, TRS had captured GHMC with landslide majority of 99 in 150-member body.
The MIM was second largest party with 44 seats, while the BJP was a distant with only four seats.
What exit polls predict?
Almost all the exit polls predicted that TRS will cross the magic figure of 76. However, it is also predicted that the ruling party’s seat share will reduce when compared to the results of the last GHMC elections.
People’s Pulse predicted that the TRS is likely to get 68-78 seats in the 150-seat GHMC whereas, MIM candidates will emerge victories on 38-42 seats.
| Party | Seats |
| TRS | 86-90 |
| MIM | 34-38 |
| BJP | 18-20 |
| INC | 1-2 |
| Others | zero |
| Party | Seats |
| TRS | 65-70 |
| MIM | 35-40 |
| BJP | 27-31 |
| INC | 3-6 |
| Others | 0-3 |
| Party | Seats |
| TRS | 71-85 |
| MIM | 36-46 |
| BJP | 23-33 |
| INC | 0-6 |
| Others | zero |
Pulse Today projected landslide victory for the TRS. According to it, the TRS will get 86-90 seats whereas MIM will get 34-38 seats.
| Party | Seats |
| TRS | 68-78 |
| MIM | 38-42 |
| BJP | 25-35 |
| INC | 1-5 |
| Others | zero |
| Party | Seats |
| TRS | 67-77 |
| MIM | 39-43 |
| BJP | 24-42 |
| INC | zero |
| Others | 5 |
