HYDERABAD: The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Friday scripted yet another victory, which will go down in the annals of Hyderabad history, by winning 99 of the 150 seats at stake in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. This is the first time ever that a single party has managed to romp home so comfortably, to be in a position to pick a mayor of its choice — TRS can now have its mayor without the support of either the MIM or the ex-officio members.
On the other hand, the Congress was decimated in the State capital while the future of the TDP and the BJP combine looks equally bleak. All that the grand old party could manage were just two seats. The TDP-BJP, which roped in AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu, his son Lokesh and a host of Union Ministers from the BJP and AP State ministers too for campaigning, ended up with just five seats — BJP (4) and TDP (1). Surprisingly, the TDP-BJP and Congress, which banked on ‘settler’ votes, failed to get the mandate of Seemandhra people who appear to have voted overwhelmingly for the TRS.
The pink party made inroads into Andhra-dominated areas like Vanasthalipuram, Kukkatpally, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Serilingampally and others spread across the fringes of Hyderabad. This clearly shows the TRS is no more an ‘untouchable’ for the Seemandhra voters. The party’s decision to give tickets to leaders of AP-origin in settler-dominated areas yielded results with most of them winning by good margins. The TDP could not make a mark even in divisions where its star campaigner, Lokesh, held roadshows. For the TRS, the real victory is its acceptance by all sections — people of other States, IT sector employees, middle classes, minorities and the downtrodden.
Also, the TRS will now have the confidence to face by-elections, if the situation arises, to the Assembly seats of TDP MLAs who have joined the party. The MIM is the only party which could withstand the TRS tsunami but the latter made in roads even into its vote-bank coming second in nearly 25 MIM seats.
The TRS made inroads into Andhra-dominated areas like Vanasthalipuram, Kukkatpally, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Serilingampally and others spread across the fringes of Hyderabad. This clearly shows the TRS is no more an ‘untouchable’ for the Seemandhra voters.