Hyderabad: Elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, which is due in December, is caught up in delimitation and political issues. While the High Court has asked the government to undertake delimitation of the existing 150 divisions in GHMC before conducting polls, and the government is yet to take a decision on it, the TRS MIM combine is also looking at the pros and cons of political mileage of going to polls in the present GHMC.
The TRS government is yet to take a decision on delimitation and also whether to retain the existing 150 municipal divisions or increase it. Reservation of divisions and other process will also take a long time. “Delimitation, reorganisation of divisions, implementation of the rule of reservations and others procedures will take at least one year. Elections in December are ruled out,” a TRS leader said.
The TRS-MIM combine is toying with various options to take control of the civic body. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is reportedly in a dilemma whether to go to polls after delimitation, with the present set-up of 150 divisions, increase it to 200 divisions or bifurcate the corporation into three corporations of Secunderabad, old MCH area and Cyberabad.
The MIM has reportedly cautioned Mr Rao against going to polls with the present GHMC setup, it is learnt. Sources said the TRS-MIM assessment indicated that elections in the present GHMC will be advantageous to Telugu Desam since Seemandhra people, who have a strong presence in the city, will prefer the TD over the TRS and to some extent the Congress.
The present 150 division GHMC is headed by a Congress-MIM combine. The Co-ngress has 52 corporators, Telugu Desam 45, MIM 43, BJP five, MBT one, PR one, while independents have three. The TRS has no represe-ntation. However, there have been several floor crossings from one party to another, including some to the TRS.
In GHMC limits, TD has nine MLAs, MIM seven, BJP five and TRS three.
Speculation is rife that Telugu Desam city president and Sanathnagar MLA T. Srinivas Yadav, who is frequently meeting Mr Rao, and four to five more TD MLAs, besides several local leaders, are likely to join the TRS soon. Mr Yadav, who met the CM on Monday, however, denied it has to do with GHMC polls or politics. “I went to invite the CM to a personal function. No politics were discussed,” he told this newspaper.
