HYDERABAD: Mohammed Majid Hussain of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) is the new mayor of Greater Hyderabad.
He was unanimously elected the mayor and Rajkumar of the Congress party the deputy mayor by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) council.
The Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boycotted the council meet, demanding secret ballot.
Hyderabad District Collector and the returning officer Natrajan Gulzar announced the election of Hussain and Rajkumar. They succeeded Jaffer Hussain of the MIM and B. Kartika Reddy of the Congress respectively.
The two allied parties swapped the posts at the end of two years under the pact they reached after GHMC polls in 2009. The mayor and deputy mayor for the last one year will be decided mutually by the two parties.
MIM ignored strong contenders, including former mayor Mir Zulfiquar Ali, to pick up dark horse Majid Hussain for the top civic post. Hussain represents the Ahmednagar municipal ward.
The 216-member council comprises 150 corporators and 66 ex-officio members, including legislators and members of parliament. The Congress has 93 members in the council and they include 52 corporators, while the MIM has a strength of 53, including 43 corporators.