With requisite numbers on its side, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) will have a smooth sailing in the Mayor and Deputy Mayor election of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to be held on Thursday.
Unconfirmed sources revealed that the TRS has finalised two names, Vijaya Lakshmi and Mothe Sri Latha, elected from Tarnaka division. However, even senior ministers in the government have not been informed about the final selection till late in the night. TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, as is his wont, is ensuring the surprise element to his choice.
Officials reveal that in case of an election, the winning candidate needs just one vote more than the opponent. The quorum for conducting the elections is 97 members. Apart from the 149 corporators (one elected corporator of the BJP passed away recently), GHMC has 45 ex-officio members taking the total strength to 194.
As of now, TRS has 56 elected members, BJP has 47 and AIMIM 44 while Congress has two members. TRS also has 31 ex-officio members thus giving it a clear edge over all other parties. So it would be easy for the party to sail through is the argument of TRS leaders.
BJP to contest
The BJP has decided to put up its candidate ensuring an election. “The idea is just to expose the TRS-MIM understanding as we don’t have the strength,” a senior leader said. Elected corporators of the party will meet at a temple in Basheerbagh in the morning and later will have a breakfast meeting at a restaurant nearby and proceed to the GHMC office. BJP MLC N. Ramchander Rao is leading the party candidates as Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and BJP president Bandi Sanjay are attending the Parliament sessions.
If the BJP candidate is in contention, the AIMIM is also likely to put up its candidate. By not contesting, MIM does not want to be seen as an ally of the ruling TRS to give ammunition to the BJP to embarrass TRS. The MIM also has the option of staying away from the election.
But MIM leaders dismissed rumours of abstaining from the floor saying, “Where is the need and why should we.” “We will decide on Thursday morning whether to contest or not. All our elected corporators will meet in the morning to take a decision on the contest and the candidate,” said a senior leader of MIM.
The TRS also apparently toyed with the idea of postponing the elections using some technical issues and go for Special Officer rule for a short period. But as per the GHMC Act it can be done only if the elected body is dissolved, which is unlikely.
