Hyderabad: More than 98 per cent of Members of Parliament and Members of the State Legislature in Telangana have registered their names as ex officio members in municipal corporations and municipalities, district collectors informed the State Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday, February 7.
With several doubts being raised over the registration process, the SEC clarified the applicable rules, stating that once registered, members cannot seek a fresh opportunity or shift their ex-officio membership to another municipality or municipal corporation.
Norms behind membership
As per norms, 119 MLAs, 37 MLCs, 17 Lok Sabha members, and seven Rajya Sabha members are eligible to register as ex officio members. MLAs and Lok Sabha members can register in municipal corporations or municipalities that fall wholly or partially within their respective constituencies. Rajya Sabha members and MLCs, however, are permitted to register in any urban local body.
The SEC said members who fail to register within 30 days of being elected must complete the process before the election of the chairperson or mayor of the respective urban local body. It was noted that a few Rajya Sabha members and MLCs elected from teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies are yet to complete registration.
District collectors are personally contacting them and informing them that the deadline is between February 11 and February 14, up to 5 pm.
For Rajya Sabha members, MLCs
Given their six-year tenure, Rajya Sabha members and MLCs will continue as ex-officio members in the urban local body where they first registered. Even if the term of that municipal body ends and a new governing council is formed, they will continue there until the completion of their legislative tenure.
After GHMC merger
The SEC also clarified that 27 municipalities have been merged into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Legislators who were registered as ex officio members in those municipalities will automatically continue as members within the GHMC limits, with no option for fresh registration elsewhere.
At present, elections are not being held to the GHMC, Warangal and Khammam municipal corporations, and five other municipalities.
Despite this, the SEC has ruled that ex officio members registered in these bodies are not permitted to vote in any other urban local body elections.
