HISTORIC VICTORY FOR KCR and TRS IN GHMC POLLS : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

HISTORIC VICTORY FOR KCR 

and TRS IN GHMC POLLS

 Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, registered yet another great victory, an unprecedented one, which will go down in the annals of Hyderabad history, by winning 99 out of the 150 seats at stake in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. This is the first time ever that a single party has secured not only absolute majority but also two thirds majority which by all means a highly comfortable victory. This would pave way for TRS to pick a mayor of its own choice, without depending on any party which is the normal practice ever since corporation was formed. TRS can now have its mayor without the support of either the MIM- the traditional king maker or the ex-officio members.

On the other hand, the Congress that shared power with MIM in the earlier elections was decimated in the State capital by managing to get just two seats to its credit. The future of the TDP-BJP combine looks equally bleak with just five seats in its kitty—BJP (4) and TDP (1). Surprisingly, the TDP-BJP and Congress, which banked on votes of those who settled from neighboring Andhra Pradesh, failed to get their confidence and all of them have voted overwhelmingly for the TRS.

TRS made inroads into Andhra-dominated areas like Vanasthalipuram, Kukkatpally, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Serilingampally and others spread across the fringes of Hyderabad. This clearly shows that the TRS is above regional politics and the Government has not differentiated people between Telangana and Seemandhra. The party’s decision to give tickets to leaders of AP-origin in several divisions yielded results with most of them winning by good margins.

Voters, hailing from any region or state, voted for TRS and the state government’s welfare schemes and programmes have played a key role in the party’s resounding win in the GHMC polls. The assurances by the KCR-led government to turn Hyderabad into a world-class city on the lines of Dallas in the USA captured the imagination of the young and the elite alike. The first and foremost thing that made Hyderabadis believe Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is uninterrupted power supply in the state, especially in Hyderabad. There was not a single day in the last 19 months with power cut in Hyderabad. The other popular schemes that attracted the masses in Hyderabad is the six-kg-rice for every family without a cap on the rice quota. Then, CM announced two-bedroom flats, which has been a distant dream of the poor.

The TRS government has launched and grounded the two-bedroom flat housing programme in IDH Colony, which spread a positive message among masses. Aasara pensions, a scheme to provide Rs 1,000 every month to the aged and widows and Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak helping the parents to marry off their daughters too turned the tide in favor of TRS. The government’s decision to provide clothes to poorer sections in Muslims and Christians during Ramzan and Christmas spread the message that Hyderabad’s cultural and secular fabric would be maintained by the TRS government which has also ensured good maintenance of law and order. The so called elite sections are fascinated by CM’s future plans such as construction of skyscrapers, providing better health care and also his efforts to further strengthen the IT, film and realty industries in the city.

After the results are announced and after registering an unprecedented victory for his party TRS, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in a press meet announced that his government would construct one Lakh two-bedroom flats in Hyderabad and another one Lakh outside the city for the poor even as he vowed to make the State capital a global city, which never sleeps. He said: “We will develop Hyderabad in such a way that soon people will say Hyderabad never sleeps just like Mumbai and everyone will be proud of our city. People in Hyderabad believed TRS victory is a historical necessity”.  Saying that “People voted for us because they liked us,” he stressed, underlining that people from all states, including Andhra, sided with the TRS and assured them that his government will protect and provide employment to all Hyderabadis irrespective of their caste, creed, region or religion. CM also announced two major reservoirs of 40 tmc capacity each and three more hospitals for the city in Kukkatpally, Rajendranagar, and LB Nagar.

.           An analysis of voting pattern shows interesting data.

The TRS received 14.68 Lakh votes or 43.85 per cent of the votes cast in the GHMC election. The party’s vote share jumped from 34.3 per cent in the Assembly election two years back (3 Assembly seats) to a high of 43.85 per cent. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen with a tally of 44 seats in the GHMC election secured 5, 30,812 votes which translate into 15.85 per cent of the total votes cast. Though the tally of votes went up for the green party, its vote share declined from the Assembly elections of 2014 where it polled 16.9 per cent of the votes. In contrast, the Telugu Desam Party saw its vote share plunge from a high of 20.9 per cent in Assembly election to 13.11 per cent in the GHMC election. Its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party too saw its vote share decline from 12.8 per cent in the Assembly election to 10.34 per cent in the GHMC election. Congress party’s vote share actually declined from 15.1 per cent in the Assembly elections to 10.4 per cent in the GHMC election.

(Source: The New Indian Express and the Hindu)