Hyderabad: The decision of the TRS to field poor-performing sitting corporators has proved costly for the ruling party in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. This mistake has made the ruling party lose polls in 34 divisions.
Though the bad record of sitting corporators was brought to the notice of the party bosses by MLAs and in-charges of Assembly constituencies, the ruling party leadership ignored their suggestions. As a result, 34 sitting corporators lost in the polls. If the party had dropped them, analysts claim the party could have had a cakewalk and won as many as 89 seats.
Out of 99 sitting corporators, the ruling TRS had renominated 78 corporators and dropped 21 citing bad response. Out of 78, only 44 corporators won. Sources in the TRS said that in-charges had asked the high command to change the remaining sitting corporators, but the leadership ignored the suggestion.
The results were good in the divisions, where changes were made by the party in-charges and MLAs. Deputy Speaker T. Padma Goud, who fought with the high command and changed four sitting corporators in the Secunderabad constituency, helped the party win in all those divisions.
Barring two seats of the MIM, Jubilee Hills MLA Maganti Gopinath has asked the high command to change four sitting corporators and all of them won. By changing sitting corporators in Miyapur and Hydernagar divisions, the party has emerged victorious in all divisions in the Serilingampally Assembly constituencies. Quthbullapur MLA K.P. Vivekananda got the party to drop the sitting corporator from Subhashnagar division and won it successfully. The western part of the city has played a vital role in helping the TRS in winning 55 divisions in the GHMC polls.
Similarly, suggestions were made to the high command to change the corporators in LB Nagar, Uppal, Musheerabad, Amberpet and Sanathnagar Assembly constituencies. The leadership, however, ignored the suggestions and paid a high price by losing most of the divisions in the five constituencies.
Similarly, the MIM had renominated 44 sitting corporators and out of them six have lost the election. The party has changed four sitting candidates and only one of them was defeated in the GHMC polls. The BJP emerged victorious in 48 divisions by fielding fresh candidates.
