HYDERABAD: The people of Greater Hyderabad have handed out a rude shock to the ruling TRS party in the GHMC polls. The party has fallen short of its own expectations of winning at least 70 divisions.
TRS leaders were of the impression that they would win these 70 seats hands down, but would face a tough battle in 22 other divisions.
However, with 55 divisions in hand, the party is recording its second major loss since the 2014 Assembly elections — the first one being the Dubbaka bypoll.
The pink party never lost an election after it came to power in 2014. Losing the Dubbaka Assembly seat to the BJP, therefore, was unprecedented for the TRS, especially since the constituency was a pink party bastion. Now, the BJP has hit the TRS where it hurts most by winning 48 divisions in the GHMC.
Sensing trouble after the Dubbaka debacle, TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had himself released the manifesto for the party in the GHMC polls. He had also addressed a public meeting at LB Stadium. Despite that, the ruling party failed to retain the trust of Hyderabadis.
Shortly before the GHMC polls, the State government had announced 50 per cent waiver in property tax, which would benefit 13.71 lakh people. Further, the government had disbursed Rs 10,000 relief to 6.65 lakh citizens affected by the recent floods. Later, the Chief Minister himself had announced free drinking water up to 20,000 litres to all the citizens. He had also promised to provide free power to Dhobhi ghats and salons.
Despite the promises and the sops, the BJP made inroads in various divisions and Assembly segments, which were up until now represented by the TRS party.