Telangana State BJP President Bandi Sanjay Kumar along with other party workers celebrate the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election results in Hyderabad.
GHMC Election Results: After winning five seats in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly elections, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM was hoping for a robust performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was also expecting to repeat the show of the last civic elections. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stunned both the local parties with its performance.
The BJP, which had roped in its top leaders, including Amit Shah, JP Nadda and Yogi Adityanath for the campaining in the crucial polls pushed the AIMIM to the third spot in the results announced on Friday, December 4. The campaign saw no holds barred attack by political opponents, while remarks by some leaders created controversies. The promise by the BJP leaders to change the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar if the party is voted to power also sparked a row.
The TRS won 55 seats, the BJP grabbed 48 and the AIMIM 44. In the last GHMC polls, the BJP had won 4 seats, TRS 99 and AIMIM 44.
Not expected this result: TRS
Upset over the results, Telangana minister KT Rama Rao (KTR), son of CM Chandrasekhara Rao, said the party was 20-25 seats short of what it was expected to win.
"I thank people of Hyderabad who chose TRS as the single largest party to represent them in Council. Result is certainly not what we expected, we're short of 20-25 seats. We lost about 10-12 divisions with extremely narrow margin," KTR said.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi workers celebrate their party's win in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election in Hyderabad
'Saffron strike'
Expressing gratitude towards people of Telangana, Union Home Minister and Amit Shah said that BJP's 'politics of development' under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi has once again been approved by the masses.
"Gratitude to the people of Telangana for reposing faith in PM Narendra Modi led BJP’s Politics of Development. Congratulations to Shri JP Naddaji and Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar for BJP’s astounding performance in GHMC. I applaud the hard work of our karyakartas of Telangana," Amit Shah said in his tweet.
"The people of Hyderabad have made it clear what will be the results of the Telangana assembly elections (2023). I can say with confidence that people of Telangana have decided to say goodbye to the corrupt KCR government," BJP President JP Nadda said.
Upbeat over the party's impressive performance in the city civic poll, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said it was a "saffron strike" in which the electorate reposed faith in the BJP and voted against the ruling TRS.
Will stop BJP in 2023 at all costs: Owaisi
Expressing satisfaction over his party's performance in the civic polls, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi refused to admit any wave in the favour of the BJP. He said AIMIM's strike rate was best among all the parties as it won 44 of 51 wards. "People of Old City have conducted Democratic Strike on the BJP," he said.
"We have won on 44 seats in Hyderabad GHMC elections. I have spoken to all newly elected corporators and asked them to begin their work from tomorrow itself," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.
"We will fight the BJP in a democratic way. We are confident that people of Telangana will stop BJP from expanding its footprints in the state," he added.
Congress in shambles
The GHMC election results came as a rude shock to the Congress as it won only two wards. State Congress president and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that he has submitted his resignation from the post of PCC president.
Reddy added he has requested the AICC to take up the process of selection of a new president of state Congress.
(With inputs from PTI)
