Hyderabad: Officials at the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are deeply concerned, reflecting on a scenario where three parties are doing well in elections and holding substantial city council seats: the TRS, MIM and BJP.
Fearing of being trapped if the TRS, the BJP and the MIM win seats in good quantity as they intuit, they say that although the civic body is already bankrupt, the state government has come to rescue them to pay the salaries. during the last week of each month.
However, without the guarantee of the state government, no project launched in the city would take off and officials would come under tremendous pressure to release district development funds related to development activities to be undertaken.
According to sources highly located in the GHMC, the most affected people would be civil servants, if the people did not give an absolute majority to the ruler TRS in the following elections. Officials fear being caught between the devil and the depths of the sea, under pressure from the newly elected GHMC council.
The sources said that if the BJP wins more than 30 seats, which they fear will happen based on current trends, officials would face pressure from them, but since the civic body was already bankrupt and has relied on the state government to employee wages, they may not. get the same payroll support.
Once the opposition becomes strong, it will be very difficult to handle the MIM and the BJP corporations in council meetings. The government has already informed the civic body to obtain loans for development activities, and the government provided a guarantee.
A senior GHMC official said that to date, no corporate in the city has “created any problems” related to development activities due to a clear verdict. However, he said that if the verdict changes, companies will become more accountable and raise various questions about development activities in their respective districts.
The neighborhood committee members, with their own political interests, would demand good quality labor contractors who have been carrying out works in their neighborhood, or they would threaten to stop the works. This could upset the delicate balance between the corporation and the contractors, he said.
Another official reported that since the notification of the vote was announced, crossing party lines, no corporate had visited the civic body office requesting to complete any pending work in their districts. However, all this could change in February, especially if the opposition gains ground.
The official further admitted that given the bankruptcy of GHMC, the corporation would not be able to provide salaries to newly elected corporations without the support of the TRS government.
Also, he said, to show its political presence after the GHMC elections, the city would witness several dharnas and protests over the release of the district’s development funds, which the current council cannot handle.
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