Hyderabad: With just days to go before the newly elected corporators of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) take oath, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is unlikely to have an issue in getting its candidate elected for the mayor and deputy mayor positions.
In spite of just winning jus 56 of the 150 GHMC wards, the TRS still has an upper hand as it also has 29 more ex-officio members (local members of Parliament and MLAs) of the GHMC who will also vote for the mayoral election. There are a total of 191 people (corporators and ex-officio members) who will vote to elect the new GHMC mayor and deputy mayor.
In the December 2020 GHMC polls, the BJP made major gains through a communal and aggressive Hindutva pitch, which led it to win 48 out of the 150 wards while the All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained its number of 44 seats. The Congress, once a major player, managed to win just two seats. In the 2015 GHMC polls, the TRS won 99 seats and secured the mayor and deputy mayor posts unanimously.
“We are only friendly with the AIMIM, and have no alliance. Whoever gets the maximum number of votes, will declared as the mayor and deputy mayor. Elections will be conducted only if more than 50% of the candidates are present. We have a majority of 85 votes, so we will win for sure,” a senior TRS leader, who did not want to be quoted, told Siasat.com.
However, there is a chance that the BJP, which is now in a strong position with 48 seats, will create a ruckus and might even delay the election process by staging a walk out during the process. Both the BJP and TRS are likely to be in a direct contest, while the AIMIM is expected to abstain or support the TRS.
“For the quorum, half the members need to be present. Everyone has to take oath, and on the same day they will vote for the mayor. The TRS has to fight and field candidates. BJP has two options, which includes walking out during voting. Same way, AIMIM has also the option to either support the TRS, and the other is to field candidates and contest,” a senior AIMIM leader said.
