The TRS won all the three municipal corporations and shared spoils with the Congress in the remaining 49 urban local bodies that went to polls by indirect mode to elect Mayors and chairpersons respectively in Telangana on Thursday.
The TRS won the Karimnagar, Ramagundam and Nizamabad municipal corporations but the election to Warangal and Khammam corporations was stayed by the High Court. The party also won 22 municipalities and Nagar Panchayats while the Congress bagged 19, TDP four, BJP three and MIM one.
The election to Nalgonda and Suryapet municipalities was postponed for lack of quorum while it was delayed in Mahbubabad due to stalling of the proceedings by TRS in a bid to foil the chances of Congress.
The election took place three months after people voted for their representatives as the process was initially stayed by court in view of general elections and the delay in constitution of Assembly whose members were part of the electoral college for Thursday’s poll. It was done by show of hands in municipal offices all over the State where the police beefed up security to prevent untoward incidents.
The police arrested three Congress councillors of Korutla on charges of kidnapping one of their colleagues Uma Rani and her husband at Toopran in Medak district while they were returning after joining the TRS in Hyderabad. The Congress enjoyed majority at Korutla but the TRS won the chairmanship with the support of MIM whose member was offered vice-chairmanship.
The Congress councillors resorted to cross voting to ensure the victory of TRS in several municipalities, including Mancherial where the party had clear majority but did not participate in the process. In combination with the MIM, the TRS wrested the Nizamabad municipal corporation and Bodhan municipality though the Congress was in majority at both places. The TRS replaced its mayoral candidate Vishalini Reddy with Akula Sujatha at the eleventh hour in Nizamabad. Ravinder Singh of the same party was elected Mayor of Karimnagar.
It was smooth sailing for TRS in Karimnagar where the party not only won Karimnagar and Ramagundam corporations but Sircilla, Korutla, Metpally, Peddapalli and Huzurabad municipalities and Husnabad and Jammikunta Nagar Panchayats. The party also held sway in Adilabad, Warangal, Nizamabad and Medak districts but the Congress reversed the trend in Mahbubnagar, Khammam and Nalgonda.
The town president of TRS at Jangaon threatened to immolate himself after his wife was denied nomination as chairperson. The TDP councillors staged a dharna at Kodad alleging that their colleagues were escorted by Congress.
