Amidst high speculation that the civic polls for Hyderabad and greater Hyderabad areas will be postponed to new year, here comes the final confirmation from the Telangana Election Commission that the GHMC polls will be held on December 1, 2020. After the rather embarrassing loss in Dubbaka, it was thought that the ruling TRS would take some time to announce the dates.
Also, there was the big issue of recent floods in Hyderabad, due to which people are still simmering over the slow reaction of the ruling government. Though the government announced Rs 10,000 as aid for all flood-affected, there are complaints that the money is being distributed only as a political gimmick.
However, one can observe that the ruling TRS party has announced a lot of programmes to satisfy people and to give them instant recall value. For example, KCR announced cuts in property tax as a diwali gift to citizens. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KTR has been starting a lot of programmes too. One happens to be the b-pass for a single window facility in construction matters.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have started complaining about the proximity of the date. The final date to file nominations has been announced as November 20 and the withdrawal date as November 22. With elections just two weeks around the corner, this leaves little window for opposition parties to campaign or even mobilise their cadre.
Both BJP and the Congress have been raising similar concerns. In the past civic polls, TRS won 99 seats while MIM won 44, BJP won about 3 seats and Congress a mere 2 seats. While TRS does not want to lose its control over Hyderabad, BJP is quite aggressive in its planning. It has roped in Bhupender Yadav to strategise for the polls and a national body will also be overseeing the on-goings. The BJP feels the urban population would vote for them. There is general complaint though that the opposition parties haven’t been given enough time to select candidates and campaign widely.
But December 1 is the final date and results will be announced on December 4. Voting will be through ballot papers due to the pandemic and the polling will be held between 7 am and 6 pm on December 1.