Present Scenario of Hyderabad Politics

The recent GHMC elections have turned Hyderabad Politics into a Tripartite struggle. On one side, BJP thickens its plot with the GHMC elections. On the other side, ruling TRS finds it challenging to retain power in the home state.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election emerged as a shock for all three major Political Parties contested in the Elections. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won 56 seats while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 48 and 44 seats, respectively. Though CM K. Chandrashekar Rao’s TRS retained the maximum wards in the GHMC – local body polls; it contained almost half of the wards it won in the last GHMC elections. After the GHMC elections, Telangana’s Main Political Parties eyes on the 2023 assembly election as there’s a lot at stake. And, indeed, Hyderabad would be the centre ground for all Political Parties to experiment with the new strategies to win the next assembly elections. Here’s a look at what new experiments or course corrections are underway in Hyderabad:

Congress set to appoint a new State Chief

The Telangana Congress seems ready to appoint a new TPCC chief as Party’s State Unit demands a new Chief. For over two years, Congress has been hanging fire after incumbent Congress Leader – N Uttam Kumar Reddy resigned from his post following the party’s defeat in the 2018 assembly elections.

Stressing on the need to have a new boss to run the state party affairs, former Union minister Balram Naik said the high command should consider appointing a candidate from the ST community as the new Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president. Naik said – “It is unfortunate that ST community leaders who have been loyal to the party are not even being considered for the Chief Post.

BJP puts vax talk agenda against KTR

Debunking the allegations of Minister – KTR, the BJP wondered why the minister who did not get himself vaccinated till now is criticising the Centre for the vaccine shortage in the state. During a news conference, the national vice-president of the BJP, DK Aruna, questioned why the Industries Minister – KT Rama Rao, did not do anything about the vaccine despite the vaccine being manufactured in Hyderabad.

BJP national spokesperson K Krishna Sagar Rao said KTR is an escapist and blames the Centre though health is a state subject. Mr Sagar Rao alleges that KTR is busy blaming the game instead of focusing on health as it’s a state subject.

He also added in a press statement, “Telangana State has zero policy on Covid-19 management, zero competence in implementing – ICMR guidelines to test, isolate and trace since March 2020, and there’s zero accountability on public health amidst this massive global pandemic. The ruling TRS has been completely failed on all fronts regarding Covid-19 pandemic-related public health challenge.” Thus, TRS and BJP are presently busy blaming game against each other to prove one’s loopholes.

The TRS seems to extend its ground

The ruling TRS seems working towards extending its party wings with the inclusion of outsiders. There are speculations that N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP President – L Ramana joining the ruling TRS?

Speculations are rife that TRS is wooing Ramana to join the TRS and strengthen the party in Karimnagar district following the resignation of Etela Rajender. However, Ramana said that he had not taken any decision yet. He said, “The TRS has been approaching me for a long time. But, I have not taken any decision.”

As per the sources, the Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, a Ramana colleague in TDP, approached Ramana recently and Jagtial – TRS MLA Dr Sanjay Kumar. Ramana seems offered an MLC post, and the TRS leadership can also consider him a Ministerial Berth if Ramana joins the party.

Significantly, the upcoming Assembly Elections of Telangana will make the ground for the next GHMC polls. And, if BJP continues to ladder up to their journey as shockingly did in the last GHMC polls, the TRS may lose power in its home state. Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM is limited to Hyderabad only, but with its steady voter base. Thus, the Telangana fight is obviously between TRS and BJP only as Congress already lost its plot way before.