GHMC exit polls: TRS set to retain civic body; big gains for the BJP

Various exit polls have shown that the TRS is set to retain the mayor seat of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

Most of the pollsters say that the ruling party in the state could win 78 or above seats.

The latest civic body polls were held two months ahead of the normal course by the Telangana election commission, which the opposition parties alleged was at the behest of CM Chandrasekhar Rao to suit his electoral interests.

The striking point however is the dramatic rise of the BJP's influence in the city, where it was confined to only four wards five years back.

The BJP could win anywhere between 25 to 35 seats, most of the surveys predict. The least that any projection gave to the saffron party is 12 seats.

Contesting in 51 wards, AIMIM could win around 35-40 seats.

All the exit polls are unambiguous about the rout of the Congress party in the civic body polls. The party is given a maximum of around five seats.

The counting for the ballot based GHMC polls held on Tuesday would take place on Friday.

The GHMC has a total of 150 wards, each represented by a councillor/corporator. While polls for the 149 wards were held on Tuesday, a re-poll was conducted in Old Malakpet on Thursday. Polls of this one ward were canceled midway as it was found that CPI(M)'s symbol was printed on the ballot papers instead of the CPI's.

The BJP which complained of rigging in two wards of the old city has approached the Telangana High Court asking for a re-poll.

The Tuesday voting percentage of 149 wards was marked at 46.5 per cent, over one percent above the 2016 turnout and setting the highest polling record in the GHMC's three-time elections history.

The previous GHMC polls held in February 2016 saw the TRS sweep with 99 wards, while Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM was elected in 44 wards. The BJP was elected in four seats, Congress 2 and TDP 1.

The civic body polls were held two months ahead of the normal course by the Telangana election commission, which the opposition BJP etc parties alleged was at the behest of CM Chandrasekhar Rao to suit his electoral interests.

The poll process confined to two weeks saw the BJP engage in the electioneering of an unprecedented scale, with several of its prominent national leaders descending for campaigning for the municipal polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the state unit chief Bandi Sanjay after the polls, to take stock of the party prospects.

Following the Dubbaka by-poll victory, the BJP took the Hyderabad civic body polls, encompassing 24 constituencies out of the total 119 MLA seats, as its groundwork to spread its sway in the state for the 2023 Telangana assembly polls.

The GHMC poll results are expected to offer the public perception of the K Chandrasekhar Rao government, which completes two years of its second term this month.