The biggest winner in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election results declared on 3rd December, 2020 was Congress. The grand old party met its Waterloo again. The anger in the people of both Andhra and Telangana is palpable.
This needs a greater celebration. Its humour prince charming did not conduct any roadshow, there was no showering of red rose petals, nor there was any giggling and election tourism of his sister, nor travelled to Hyderabad, nor contributed to the Global warming by his tour, nor any meme of Pappuji wearing a sacred thread and skull cap simultaneously got viral on the social media and saved congress the blushes.
It contested all the 150 wards and won two wards by narrow margin, same number as it had won in the year 2016, but in probably different wards, despite a spirited assault by BJP. That it lost in 148 wards is par for the course for Congress. That Congress central leadership accomplished this feat without stirring out of Lutyens’ Delhi is a cause for wonderment. Or, a cause célèbre, as Harvard drop out RaGa would put it!
BJP improved its tally from only 4 wards to 48 wards and made the entire city saffron with road show and Amit Shah and Patna University graduate Nadda showing the way. AMIM held on to its tally of 44 wards and TRS dropped from a complete majority figure of 99 wards to 55 wards and lost the numbers, majority and %age of popular votes.
With 35.56% BJP won 48, with 18.76% AIMIM got 44 wards, that’s the power of vote polarisation. The difference between TRS and BJP was only 8600 votes but seats 7, that’s the cost of division of votes. Total votes polled was less than 45%, but all AIMIM voters cast their votes i.e. 18.76% assume that 100% MIM followers cast votes in its favour, that means MIM grip in Hyderabad is around 18%. In remaining 80% population only 25% are cast votes, with divisions of BJP, TRS, Congress and TDP candidates. It appears that migrant population and techies did not vote
Now all these 80% people will pay taxes and 18% MIM followers will enjoy the benefits without paying any taxes under the head of their Bhai as Mayor or Deputy mayor if the alliance comes in open.
BJP would have won more than 100 wards if there was more time for campaigning in the just – concluded Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections and the party is ready to cooperate with the TRS government on development, BJP president in Telangana Bandi Sanjay Kumar. TRS needs AMIM support to grab the Mayor’s chair. That will leave TRS open to the charge of being communal.
And that for BJP is tails you lose; heads I win. Even though Mayor’s chair is beyond its reach.
Renaming of the city from Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar will have to wait for some time.
