Changes in GHMC election by TRS govt fumes opposition

Hyderabad: The TRS government is being accused to taking advantage of it being in power by the Opposition parties over its decision to prune the GHMC election period to 15 days from the 20 to 26 days in the past.

The Congress, BJP and TD have been vociferous in criticising Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for delaying the announcement of reservations of wards and pruning the election period.

However, minister T. Srinivas Yadav refuted the Opposition charge, saying that both the ruling and Opposition parties have the same amount of time to campaign, hence there is no foul play.

“Opposition is just trying to malign the TRS. Everyone gets 15 days. Where is the question of foul play? They wanted the process to be completed fast, and now, they say it’s “too fast”,” Mr Yadav said.

Earlier, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the TRS government of indulging in all kinds of undemocratic acts to win the elections.
He lambasted the government for modifying GHMC election rules and pruning the election period so that the Opposition is denied time, besides deleting a large number of genuine voters.

“The government has thrown all norms to the wind. It is arm-twisting ad agencies in giving billboards at vantage points, spending illegally earned money on ads and elections. Though the HC had asked the government to conduct elections before December 31, t he notification is yet to be issued,” Mr Reddy charged.

TS BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy said the TRS was scared of facing the voters. “Unsure of victory, it is delaying announcement of reservation of wards. It has hatched a conspiracy to deny the weaker sections and women candidates enough time to undertake a proper campaign,” he said.

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