GHMC election results: TRS marks landslide victory with 99 seats

Hyderabad: It was a Paripoorna Vijayam (total victory) — as claimed by minister KT Rama Rao — for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti on Friday as the party swept the GHMC polls and is set to bag the mayor’s seat on its own.

Be it the IT corridor, the settler-dominated surrounding colonies, the new city or the old city (except the MIM bastion), the TRS on Friday emerged as the single largest party, creating history in the GHMC elections by winning 99 seats.

Mr Rama Rao called Friday’s victory “universal acceptance” of the TRS by all sections of society in the capital city, while the opposition TD-BJP combine and the Congress received a drubbing.

Read: GHMC poll results: Seemandhra voters choose TRS

While the Opposition parties were restricted to single digits, the TRS won (99) divisions and MIM won (44) divisions out of the 150 seats.

This was the first GHMC elections after the formation of a separate Telangana state.

The TRS had no representation in the previous body, where the Congress shared power with the MIM after their victory in 2009 elections. In the first GHMC, the Congress had 52 seats and MIM 43.

Read: GHMC election results: TRS sweeps IT corridor, Chandrababu Naidu’s pride

The TD had bagged 45 seats while the BJP had five corporators. This time, the Congress suffered a total washout and managed to bag only two wards — Patancheru and Bodhunagar.

The TD-BJP combine won 5 seats, down from the earlier 50 seats in 2009 held by the parties together.

The prime factors for TRS’ sweep has been attributed to the party’s two bedroom scheme, water supply in face of a severe crisis, fewer power cuts, better law and order, the party’s approach towards settlers and forthcoming projects for the city.

Mr Rama Rao’s charm was also a big winning factor for the TRS.

Read: GHMC election results: TRS win is complete

TRS loses KPHB, TD-BJP win 5 seats
The TRS not only won in the core city, which was once the winning grounds of the Congress and the TD-BJP combine, but also in areas dominated by settlers. However, the TRS could not win at the KPHB Colony ward, which is a bastion of the Kamma community.

The TD which won 45 seats in the 2009 elections could manage to win only one seat this time — the KPHB Colony ward. In all, the BJP-TD combine won five seats, with the BJP winning four seats.

Meanwhile, the Congress which won 52 seats in 2009 managed to win only two wards in this elections —  Patancheru and Boudhanagar. But the clean sweep in Hyderabad has effectively shut the door on the TD and is an indicator for the future as even Andhra Pradesh settlers voted for the TRS. To everyone’s surprise, the TRS won in wards that fall under Assembly seats held by TD MLAs, such as Quthbullapur, Kukatpally, Serilingampally and Uppal.

Read: Hyderabad loves us: K Chandrasekhar Rao

None of the independent candidates won this time. The win will also be a major boost to Mr Rama Rao who is set to take over the Municipal Administration and Urban Development ministry.

The first Tweet came from Mr Rama Rao who spearheaded the party’s campaign: “Humbled & deeply grateful for your tremendous vote of confidence. Let’s make Hyderabad cleaner, greener, safer & smarter.”

Counting started at 3 pm Friday and the results started pouring in by 5 pm. And the TRS was in the lead right from the beginning.

Wipeout for Congress, BJP-TD
Friday’s GHMC results were an unprecedented shock for the two national parties, the Congress and the BJP, and for the TD which aspires to be one. All of them received their worst drubbing ever.

It was a total loss of face for the Congress which in 2014 could not win a single Assembly seat out of the 24 in the GHMC area. The party ended up with two wards out of 150 in the GHMC. It has lost deposits in the Medak and Warangal bypolls held after the formation of Telangana state, and several MLC elections held subsequently. The humiliation for the Congress was such that neither TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy or party leader Shabbir Ali, who spearheaded the campaign, took calls from the media.

Read: TRS is an unchallenged political force: KT Rama Rao

Like in earlier elections, the Congress did not bother to put up an united fight, failed to stop party cadres making a beeline to the TRS and made mistakes in the selection of candidates.

The TD, which had won 10 Assembly seats in 2014, believed it had the 30-lakh strong Seemaandhra vote in its pocket. It got its estimates, both public and private, all wrong. TS TD president L. Ramana said, “people changed their minds completely which we failed to gauge. We concentrated on localities with elite voters whereas the TRS focused on basti voters. We believed that the Hyderabad voter would be with us, but things changed unexpectedly.”

He said the TD was affected by MLAs and leaders defecting to the TRS and said the results warranted a change in party strategies. The TD had mobilised 12 ministers and 42 MLAs from AP, and allotted them a division each. AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son Lokesh toured the city extensively. TD, which had won 45 divisions in 2009, failed to convince voters and landed up with one.

The BJP contested 68 divisions and ended up with four. It had won five Assembly seats in 2014, and five divisions in the 2009 GHMC elections.

Senior leader and MLC N. Ramachandra Rao said, “When the TD or the Congress was in power earlier, they had won majority in the GHMC. The trend has repeated this time too. But we need to analyse the debacle and take corrective steps.”