HYDERABAD: Demanding that the state government take up delimitation of wards to set the stage for elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, BJP floor leader in the state legislative Assembly K Laxman staged a satyagraha here on Friday.
Extending their support to the BJP leader, the Congress, TDP and Left parties alleged that the TRS government was conspiring not to increase the number of wards from the present 150 for political expediency. They vowed to organise protests jointly and warned the government of serious consequences if it failed to accept their demand.
Speaking to newsmen, Laxman asserted that there was a definite need to increase the number of wards from 150 to 200 in view of the rise in the population of the city. “The 150 wards were delineated basing on the 2001 census. But in the last decade the city has seen a great rise in its population as shown by the 2011 census figures. Hence the need for increasing the number of wards from 150 to 200.”
Laxman vowed to mobilise all other opposition parties in the state to force the government to relent on its adamant position. Further, he saw a conspiracy by the TRS-MIM combine to refrain from taking up the delimitation exercise in GHMC limits.
In the evening, Telangana TDP president L Ramana offered lemon water to Laxman for him to break the fast.