After robust performance in GHMC Polls, BJP is ready for Telangana election

The BJP’s great push in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls has paid off partially for the party that is eyeing the Telangana Assembly election due in 2023. The BJP has ended the single-party dominance of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the GHMC.

The BJP’s performance in the GHMC polls has worked well for its rival Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM making the TRS dependent on its ally. The AIMIM is an ally of the TRS but in the last GHMC polls, KCR’s party did not need its ally to govern the Hyderabad municipal body.

At the last count of votes in the GHMC election, the TRS emerged as the single-largest party but with a massively reduced strength in the civic body. The got better of the AIMIM in a neck-and-neck fight. The TRS looked set to win 58 seats -- 18 short of majority mark in the 150-member municipal corporation. In 2015, the TRS had won 99, while the AIMIM secured 44 seats in the GHMC. The AIMIM won 43 this time around.

A robust performance in the



Hyderabad civic polls is a shot in the arm for the BJP, which is eyeing to emerge as the third force in Telangana politics, where the Congress’s strength has declined considerably over the years. The AIMIM, though centred on Hyderabad, is being seen as the second major political force in Telangana, and from Telangana in national politics after the ruling TRS.

The BJP had deputed its top leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and party president JP Nadda to campaign in the GHMC polls.

The election campaign in the GHMC polls set the tone for the Telangana Assembly election 2023. The Hyderabad civic polls results signal that though the Congress’s threat has diminished for KCR in Telangana, he cannot take the elections easy with the BJP filling up the vacancy of a strong Opposition force.

Additionally, this change in Telangana politics may have an impact on the national politics. The TRS has often been seen voting with the BJP-led NDA in Parliament on key issues. This might change going forward.