Unprecedented hype has been created in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) with the BJP enlisting top national leaders for campaigning and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi making it a prestige issue to retain its hold.
The BJP, which surprised the ruling party recently by clinching the Dubbaka Assembly seat, is marshalling all its resources in a bid to win the local body election.
Enthused by the victory, the BJP has lined up top names including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National President JP Nadda, Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Prakash Javadekar, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and youth wing president Tejasvi Surya for the poll campaign.
Janasena President Pawan Kalyan withdrew his party candidate and announced support to the BJP.
As many as 1,122 candidates are in the fray. The polling will be held on December 1 and results will be announced on December 4.
The BJP is seeking votes by attacking the MIM and addressing the Hindu vote bank. BJP’s State Unit President Bandi Sanjay has launched a tirade against the anti-Hindu parties. He alleged that the ruling party is in alliance with the MIM, indicating that the TRS is a pro-MIM party.
Sops promised
The ruling TRS party, which won the poll last time with two-thirds majority bagging 102 seats in the 150-ward civic body, now faces a tough opposition from BJP. Between the last elections and now, the BJP’s strength increased significantly. It won four out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State in 2019.
For the TRS, KT Rama Rao is leading the campaign, with several State Ministers campaigning in different divisions. He is seeking a vote for the ‘developmental activities’ that the State government and the present GHMC body took up in Hyderabad during the term.
In its manifesto, the party promised to provide free drinking water. Releasing the manifesto, the TRS President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao promised to decentralise development by promoting the IT industry in different parts of the State Capital.
Congress lagging
The Opposition Congress Party seems to have lost steam as it lags behind in the campaign. In a bid to attract the voters, it announced a bouquet of freebies, including a compensation of ₹50,000 for each household hit by the recent floods.
The Telugu Desam Party, which fared very badly in the Assembly elections, too is in fray with the slogan ‘Happy Hyderabad’. It remains to be seen whether it can make any impact in the polls.