Tense showdown as Mayors, Municipal Chairpersons to be elected today

With no clear majority in several key urban local bodies across Telangana, political parties are gearing up for the indirect elections of mayors, municipal chairpersons and vice-chairpersons slated for Monday.

The outcome will determine the leadership of 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations following the February 11 civic polls, which returned a commendable verdict for the Congress, a decent one for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and disapponting one for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

With no party securing full control in 36 municipalities and corporations, the post-poll phase has witnessed aggressive camp politics and negotiations involving independents and also allegations of poachings. Congress is likely to win the majority of these, given the developments on Sunday, where it managed to use its resources well with the advntage being the ruling party.

Congress, BJP and the BRS moved councillors and corporators to secure locations and farmhouses outside their urban constituencies to undermine the other parties’ efforts to encourge defections or poaching. Congress moved their candidates to a popular resort in Hyderabad where TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud and Ministers planned their moves.

The BJP has alleged that Congress had a tacit understanding with the BRS in Karimnagar and Nizamabad while the BRS too alleged the same to prevent it winning a few tied-contests. Congress is facing a headache within the party with senior leader T. Jeevan Reddy demanding that the Mayor’s post be given to the Independents (Congress rebels) who have been his supporters. In Jagtial, he is fighting a battle with BRS MLA Sanjay Kumar, who has now aligned with the Congress.

Another issue that Congress has to deal is the Kothagudem Corporation where the CPI and Congress won 22 seats each. Though both are allies in the Assembly polls, they contested against each other in the municipal polls. Senior Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy is handling the issue and in all likelihood they will share the Mayor’s post equally.

Meanwhile, the Telangana State Election Commission issued guidelines preventing the entry of any candidate other than the elected and the ex-officio members from being allowed in the election hall. Based on the High Court directives, the SEC also limited the ex-officio members to cast their votes only in constituencies where their votes are registered.