HYDERABAD: The big day has arrived. Now, it's time for the election of a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Anxiety is growing in the TRS camp as to who would get the opportunity to wear the mayoral robes as the pink party leadership is keeping the name of its candidate a closely-guarded secret.
The quorum requires 97 members for the election to be held for both Mayor and Deputy Mayor positions and whoever gets maximum votes would be declared elected. If the quorum is available on Thursday, then the TRS will bag both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts without any hitch.
According to sources in the State Election Commission (SEC), the election will be held if there is a quorum with presence of 97 members. "Once there is a quorum for conducting the elections, the single largest party will automatically win the Mayor’s post," sources explained.
On Thursday morning, the newly-elected Corporators will take oath. Then, the election process for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor would commence. There are 150 Divisions in the GHMC. But the demise of A Ramesh Goud, who was elected on a BJP ticket due to COVID-19, now there are 149 Corporators and 44 ex-officio members, who will elect the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
The TRS, which won 56 divisions, has 32 ex-officio members. The BJP won 47 divisions and it has two ex-officio members while the AIMIM, which won 44 divisions, has 10 ex-officio votes. The Congress, on the other hand, won just two divisions.
"As all the four parties are recognised parties and whip was issued for their members, there will not be any deviation in polling. The voters will raise their hands for electing the Mayor. Whichever party candidate got more votes will be declared elected," sources said.
However, all eyes are now on the AIMIM party. Whether it would boycott the polls or field their own candidates remains to be seen. The AIMIM is expected to announce its stand just before the election process begins. Meanwhile, as many as five TRS Corporators are trying their best to become the Mayor of Hyderabad.
As the Mayor’s post is reserved for women (general), TRS corporators Sidhu Adarsh Reddy (Bharatinagar), P Vijaya Reddy (Khairatabad), Chintala Vijaya Santhi Reddy (Alwal), Gadwala Vijaya Lakshmi (Banjara Hills) and Bonthu Sridevi (Cherlapally) are in the race for the post.
The TRS will send the names of its Mayor and Deputy Mayor candidates in a sealed cover to the GHMC office on Thursday. Municipal Minister KT Rama Rao, Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav and TRS MP K Keshava Rao are election in-charges.
Meanwhile, the BJP convened a meeting with its Corporators on Wednesday and declared that they would field Radha Dheeraj Reddy as BJP's Mayor candidate. Though, the BJP does not have sufficient numbers to win the post, it has decided to expose the alleged ‘nexus’ between the TRS and the AIMIM.Meanwhile, State Election Commissioner C Parthasarathi held a review on the arrangements being made for the polls.