Four GHMC wards vacant, election heat to continue

HYDERABAD: The State Election Commission has written to the Telangana govt seeking permission to hold by-elections in four municipal wards of Mehdipatnam, Shastripuram, Gudimalkapur and Erragadda in Greater Hyderabad which fell vacant following two corporators winning the 2023 assembly elections and death of two others.
As per the amended Municipal Act, SEC needs approval of the state govt to know whether it is prepared to provide police security and other logistics to hold the elections.


State election commissioner C Partha Sarathi told TOI that they were prepared to hold the elections at the earliest as and when the govt gives green signal. “We have written to the state govt on the bypolls due in four wards of GHMC,” he said.
Sources said the Congress govt is mulling holding the gram panchayat polls in Sept or Oct after completing the implementation of 2 lakh crop loan waiver for farmers. Whether the bypolls to the four wards will be held along with panchayat polls or earlier will be decided by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, sources said.
Political observers said it will be a fierce four-cornered contest in at least three of the four wards. While Shastripuram is a stronghold of AIMIM, the other three seats may witness a close contest.
Soon after Congress victory in the Nov 2023 assembly elections, GHMC mayor, deputy mayor and some corporators of BRS have joined Congress and more number of corporators and city MLAs are likely to join the party in near future.
BRS had won 56 wards in 2020 GHMC elections followed by BJP winning 48, AIMIM 44 and Congress two. However, BJP lost one ward in the bypoll to Congress, taking Congress’s tally to three. Presently, Congress’s tally in GHMC is over 10 following the joining of corporators from other parties into the party.
While the BRS had won 16 of the total 24 assembly constituencies in Greater Hyderabad limits, AIMIM retained its seven seats and BJP won one. Congress drew blank. However, Congress wrested the Secunderabad Cantonment assembly seat from BRS in the recent bypolls. On the other hand, BJP swept three of the four Lok Sabha seats in the general polls in Greater Hyderabad.