Justice P. Naveen Rao of the Hyderabad High Court ordered notices and asked the Telangana State government and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to explain how the number of elected ward members in GHMC was reduced from 200 to 150.
The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Karunakar of Malakpet and Bhaskar Raj of Gowlipura, both from BJP. They informed the Court that the State government had merged 12 Municipalities and 8 Gram Sabhas to form a new GHMC. Prior to the formation of the new GHMC, the number of wards was 150 and after the formation of GHMC in 2007, the number was increased to 173.
The criteria for fixing the number of wards was amended and the number increased to 200 in April 2015. In September 2015, it was reduced to 150.
