The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections are scheduled to take place next week on December 1 and the votes will be counted on December 4. Voting is scheduled to take place in 150 districts or municipal constituencies at the GHMC polls to elect a mayor for the corporation that has been allocated the budget of Rs 5,380 crore this year.
Past elections
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won the latest civic polls by winning 99 districts, while BJP won only four. Other parties like Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 44, while Congress managed to pocket two districts and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) only one. The BJP, after its unexpected victory in the by-elections of the assembly, is prepared to fight a tough battle at the polls.
BJP input
The ruling party intends to strengthen its presence in Telangana after winning by-elections in the Dubbaka assembly constituency earlier this month. It was an unexpected victory as the seat was with the TRS. The seat had previously gone to TRS.
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The party believes that this civic poll can be its ticket to the state. The party leaves no stone unturned to win the municipal elections. Top BJP leaders are flying to campaign. Party Chairman JP Nadda and Interior Minister Amit Shah will visit the state this weekend, while Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Prakash Javadekar visited the state earlier this week and did their part. .
Manifests and promises
The civic survey has gained relevance considering the promises that the BJP has made. After the Bihar election, the BJP has promised free Covid-19 vaccines in Hyderabad, plus tests for everyone, free water, free energy, free tablets and PCs, high-speed Wi-Fi for economically backward children in the elections of GHMC. He has also promised the state a ‘Mukti Diwas’ as a state function on September 17, a lakh of houses under the PMAY scheme, rejuvenation of the Musi river, etc.
Politics
The BJP has alleged a secret alliance between AIMIM and TRS that are known to have friendly relations. However, TRS has denied all of those allegations.
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The BJP has also alleged that TRS hopes to win the election with the help of “illegal immigrants” whom the party has included on the voters list. Why have so-called “illegal immigrants” been granted the Aadhaar card, asked TRS.
The head of AIMIM, Asaduddin Owaisi, had also challenged the prime minister to come and campaign in the state for local elections.
The saffron festival has been presented as the best alternative to TRS that has been harshly criticized for its poor management of the floods after the heavy rains in October and the irregular disbursement of cash as part of the aid plan. TRS leaders were also accused of distributing aid funds to supporters of their party.
On December 4 it will reveal the results if BJP’s high-voltage campaign in a civic poll is worth it.
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