The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) went to the polls on December 1 and results were declared on December 4. The TRS emerged as the single largest party winning 55 of the 150 divisions of the corporation while the BJP got 48 divisions and the AIMIM secured 44. The Congress could win only two divisions. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) saw a 44% drop in seats when compared to 2016 polls, while BJP increased its seat share around 12 times and AIMIM maintained a status quo with 44 seats.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always tried to polarise people on communal grounds in its campaign from changing the name of Hyderabad city, vanishing Nizam culture to the surgical strikes. But mere polarisation or hate politics didn’t give 48 seats to them.
Surprisingly, it lost places like Sitaphalmandi, Sanathnagar, Shalibanda, and Khairtabad where its star campaigners addressed the people. It won more than 60% of the seats from LB Nagar and Secunderabad zones. BJP had won the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency in two consecutive elections with a good margin and the year later, it got the same in GHMC divisions.
The places where the coastal Andhra migrants used to vote for Congress and TDP also turned their support for BJP. One of its leaders said that they would conduct a surgical strike in Old City, but was unable to make inroads into Old City. Hence, the political vacuum in Telangana with a lack of opposition made the way for BJP.
TRS lost 13-14 seats to BJP with margins below one thousand. In BN Reddy Nagar, it lost with a margin of only 32 votes. Malkajgiri, Adikmet, Vinayaka Nagar, Ramgopalpet, and Hasthinapuram are the areas where the margin between BJP and TRS was below five hundred. Voters from flood-ravaged areas also criticised TRS and may have supported BJP as there was no other alternative.
All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) of Asaduddin Owaisi was successful in retaining their 44 seats out of 51 seats contested. AIMIM’s margin of victory was reduced compared to 2016 mainly due to low turnout and an increase in BJP’s vote share.
The sudden announcement of elections left little time for the voters to check their names in the list and the voter turnout was also low in these civic polls. When postal ballots were being counted, the BJP was leading in 80 seats. This invites a concern that a large number of government employees ignored TRS.
Congress has campaigned for elections with their cadre only without involving any national leaders as BJP did. It has to content itself with only two seats due to poor campaigning.
However, TRS now has to take the help of AIMIM or BJP to elect their mayor. The results of Hyderabad municipal elections are reassuring for the citizens who want to maintain the traditional culture and secular character of Hyderabad. Despite the fast-growing saffron shade in Telangana, people are getting aware more and more of saffron machinations. They are expected to vote more wisely in the next assembly elections in 2023.
[MOHAMMED JUNAID writes on contemporary social issues and is a Civil Services aspirant. He is also known for career counselling with young students. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AuthorJunaid]