Hyderabad: TRS steamrolls opposition, sweeps civic elections with 7-0 win

HYDERABAD: The TRS juggernaut steamrolled its way to yet another electoral win on Monday by bagging both the municipal corporations of Warangal and Khammam and the five municipalities of Siddipet, Nakrekal, Jadcherla, Atchampet and Kothur. It also won three of the four wards which went for by-polls, making it a complete sweep.
The ruling party not only retained power in the seven urban local bodies but also won enough seats to easily win the posts of mayor and deputy mayor in the two municipal corporations and chairperson and deputy chairperson in the five municipalities. The date for indirect election to these posts would be announced soon. It is most likely to be conducted on the day of the swearing-in of the newly elected members.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao thanked the people for giving TRS nearly 74% of the total wards in the seven urban local bodies. “Of the 248 wards that went to the polls, TRS won 181 seats, and another two were won by its ally CPI in Khammam town, taking the total to 183 wards. People have once again proved through their mandate that there is no alternative to the TRS in the state,” KCR said.
“People wanted to send a message to KCR during the Dubbak and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls, which they did it. The discontent this time around was not strong enough to defeat the ruling party. Also, BJP and Congress did not have an effective narrative against TRS in the ULB polls,” said political analyst Prof K Nageshwar.
TRS carpet-bombed the poll-bound urban bodies with municipal minister K T Rama Rao leading the charge, assisted by ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Puvvada Ajay Kumar, T Harish Rao, V Srinivas Goud among others.
On the other hand, Congress and BJP were nowhere close to giving a scare to TRS. BJP could not repeat its Dubbak and GHMC magic in the ULB elections. The ruling party on Sunday won the Nagarjunasagar bypoll. Earlier, it won two graduate constituency legislative council seats.
Forward Bloc second in Nakrekal
Taking many by surprise, the All India Forward Bloc finished second in Nakrekal municipality by winning six wards. The BJP drew a blank in Kothur and Nakrekal municipalities and Congress scored a duck in Siddipet. Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena too drew a blank in Khammam town. The CPI, CPM too won a few seats. The AIMIM managed to win one ward in Siddipet.
Independents may join TRS
Although independents won from several wards in urban local bodies, the talk in political circles is that they will soon join TRS ranks. On their part, Congress, BJP and CPM are ensuring that their winning candidates are not poached by TRS. However, TRS leaders said they did not need to woo anyone as they had enough majority in all the ULBs.