Hyderabad’s municipal elections are the new testing ground for communal rhetoric in a secular city, overshadowing voter concerns and development debates. National affairs, Article 370, Ayodhya and Pulwama have overshadowed the people’s demands for better roads, sanitation and health.
More than 40% of Hyderabad voters, in a recent study, said they can afford food “with difficulty.” Of these, more than 90% stated that their food consumption has “decreased compared to previous years”. More than 95% of respondents also supported Right to Recall, to have more powers over corporate in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which will go to the polls on December 1.
The study was conducted by the New Delhi-based research organization, Institute of Perception Studies, which works in the areas of electoral reform and democratic deficit, with special emphasis on the municipal and panchayat levels. The study was conducted between November 1-15, 2020 and covered 15 of the 30 circles in Hyderabad.
Instead of the development agenda, the issues that have hijacked the election campaign are the worship in temples and mosques, the symbolism of the Biryani, the Rohingya Muslims, the surgical strikes, Pulwama, Kashmir, Pakistan and the change of names: Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar and Hussein Sagar to Vinayak Sagar. . Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath drew a parallel, saying that Faizabad moved to Ayodhya and Allahabad to Prayagraj. During his campaign, he also promised that Hyderabad voters can buy land in Jammu and Kashmir.
The main activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the city are Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Smriti Irani, assisted by a non-campaign visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check the vaccine development facilities in the city. Free vaccination for voters, by the way, is one of the guarantees of the BJP. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) are having to match and counter the divisive narrative, which only strengthens it. The weak presence of Congress, which made it possible for the BJP to enter in the first place, does not detract from this discourse, nor its obvious result.
It is wrong for the BJP’s Hyderabad campaign to quickly arm itself after the party’s victory in the recent Dubakka by-elections in the state. The defeat of the TRS was, in fact, the reason why the government decided to advance the municipal elections, fearing further consolidation by the BJP. The BJP’s lengthy preparations for the GHMC surveys included extensive mapping of Hyderabad to target segments of the population. For example, areas where the majority community may be living surrounded by the minority community. Also, areas where people from the northern states have settled and identify with the BJP.
The shift from narrative to communal and polarizing debates has been gradual. A secular and stable Hyderabad is the reason for its impressive growth and investments. While there is a history of communal unrest in the 1970s and 1980s, it has not altered the development agenda of successive governments led by different political parties. The BJP municipal campaign seeks to unearth the long-buried fault lines and create the anti-secular space to channel the growing anti-incumbency against TRS.
There is some opportunity for the BJP for three reasons. First, the governance deficiencies are serious in the city and the responsibility lies with TRS, which has 99 of the 150 municipal seats, and AIMIM, which has 44. The Study of Urban Reforms and Problems, 2020, was carried out in 15 of the total 24 electoral districts of the GHMC assembly. It revealed that, when given multiple options, more than 67% of voters were concerned about bad roads in the city, more than 62% about poor sanitation, nearly 51% about poor health, and 34% about poor health. bad education in municipal schools.
Second, there is deep dissatisfaction among voters with the style of operation of the TRS leadership, with the prime minister seen as a “benevolent dictator” who is not open to discussion or democratic decision-making. Their attempts to renew registrations through the Dharani portal have been chaotic and revealed that the administration was ill prepared for such measures.
Third, TRS’s second term has been attributed to the Rythu Bandhu or Cash for Farmers scheme, ahead of the 2018 assembly elections. Similarly, TRS had announced cash relief for victims of the Hyderabad floods before municipal elections. However, cash transfers to voters may not be the best form of governance, especially in lieu of development, employment and economic vision.
The study revealed that Hyderabad voters were seeking control of their elected representatives. More than 89% of those surveyed stated that they had no power over companies once they were elected, and 95% wanted the right of revocation for companies in an irregular situation before the end of their term. An overwhelming 88% were willing to vote again to remove the corporations, and nearly a similar number supported measures to control municipal officials. The right to remembrance at the municipal and panchayat level has been implemented in Madhya Pradesh since 2001 and in Chhattisgarh since 2007.
Significantly, more than 91% of Hyderabad voters felt “anger and frustration” when corporations didn’t care about their problems. Unfortunately, this situation can remain unchanged if the elections are not fought with development as the central agenda.
Dr. Kota Neelima is an independent author and researcher, focusing on institutional changes and electoral reforms at the municipal and panchayat levels.
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