Hyderabad GHMC election results: TRS leads, BJP finishes second
The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) emerged as the single-largest party in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election results, as it won 55 out of total 150 seats. Meanwhile, Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) maintained dominance in the old city area, grabbing 44 seats. Further, the Bharatiya Janata Party's high-voltage campaign has paid off, as it won 48 seats.
Not what we expected: TRS's KT Rama Rao
"I thank people of Hyderabad who chose TRS as the single-largest party to represent them in council. Result is certainly not what we expected, we are short of 20-25 seats. We lost about 10-12 divisions with extremely narrow margin," said TRS leader KT Rama Rao.
Congress party managed to win just two seats
The Congress party continued its losing streak, as it managed to bag a meagre two seats in the civic polls. The votes for the local polls in Hyderabad were cast on Tuesday, December 1. However, despite a high-pitched campaign by the leading parties, the voter turnout remained poor at just 46.55%, implying 34.5 lakh voters exercised their right out of the total 74.67 lakh.
Despite overall loss, BJP emerged a big winner
Despite the overall victory, TRS scored as many as 44 seats less than the 2016 election, when it had won 99 out of 150 seats. The AIMIM put a similar performance as it did in the previous election, as it managed to retain its 40-plus seats. Hence, the BJP, which earlier had a minimal presence in the city, has emerged as the biggest winner.
'A moral victory for us,' said BJP leader Bhupender Yadav
The BJP has called the poll result a "moral victory" for the party. "The results are very encouraging and a moral booster for the BJP, and in a way, it is a moral victory of the party. The results reaffirm that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and his model of good governance has acceptability across regions," the party's General Secretary Bhupender Yadav said.
BJP had flown in national leaders to seek votes
This time, the Hyderabad civic polls witnessed a high-voltage and deeply divisive campaign by the contesting parties. This was mainly because the BJP, which is eyeing its expansion in South India, flew in national leaders such as Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Yogi Adityanath, Prakash Javadekar, and others for election rallies. Shah had claimed his party would turn Hyderabad into a "modern city."
'Save the city from divisive forces,' KCR's party appealed
Naturally, the BJP's campaign was subjected to retaliation from other parties. KT Rama Rao had appealed to the people of Hyderabad to "save the city from divisive forces," thereby hinting at the BJP. Meanwhile, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao said, "Some divisive forces are trying to enter Hyderabad and create havoc...Are we going to allow it? Are we going to lose our peace?"
The GHMC was set up in April 2007
The GHMC was formed in April 2007 by merging 12 municipalities and eight gram panchayats with the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH). Four districts fall within the limits of the GHMC, including Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, and Sangareddy.
