Flood-affected wards in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation that recorded low voting percentage in comparison to the 2016 polls swung clearly in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party won Kothapet, Gaddiannaram, R.K. Puram, Chaitanyapuri, Vanasthalipuram, and Saroornagar in the L.B. Nagar Circle. The other flood-affected wards of Barkas, Chandrayangutta, Jahanuma, Nawabsahebkunta, Doodbowli and Falaknuma that saw a spike in voting percentage over the 2016 backed the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen.
While the voting percentage in these wards over 2016 showed a spike in sheer numbers, the electors actually declined in 2020. The ‘ambush’ elections announced on November 17 caught not just the political parties off-guard but left little time for electors to check their names in the voters’ list. The result? A big chunk of eligible voters could not find their names in the list prepared by the Election Commission.
In the immediate aftermath of the October flooding, the Telangana government began giving out ₹10,000 as relief money to each affected family. The cash handouts got tainted with political colour as local politicians got involved with the distribution. The list of beneficiaries, too, got bloated leading to charges that people who had not been affected by the floods received the aid
This disenchantment about not getting relief money might have played a role in the dip in voter numbers, thereby impacting the result.
