GMCH voters give fractured verdict

No political party could secure a majority in the elections to the Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (GMCH), the results of which were declared on Thursday.

Though the Congress bagged the highest number of 52 seats in the 150-member corporation, the voters of the second largest urban conglomeration in the country seemed to have served a wake-up call to the ruling party in the first elections held after the death of former chief minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

When compared with the electoral performance in the Assembly elections held seven months ago, Congress has yielded a lot of ground to the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which secured 45 seats. In the last Assembly polls, Congress bagged 14 out of the 24 seats while TDP could win just one seat.

Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), whose candidates emerged victorious in seven Assembly segments, also improved its performance by bagging 43 seats in the GMCH elections.

On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party candidates won in 5 divisions, Praja Rajyam Party bagged just one seat and the Lok Satta Party drew a blank. Independent candidates were elected in four divisions.

GMCH was formed by merging 12 surrounding municipalities of the state capital in April 2007. The civic polls held on November 23 witnessed a poor voter turnout of 42 per cent.