Polling under way in Hyderabad civic polls

Hyderabad, Nov 23 : Polling was under way amid tight security Monday in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

About 10 percent of votes were polled in the first two hours (till 9 a.m.) of the polling for the 150-member civic body, officials said.

About 5.7 million voters are eligible to cast their votes to decide the fortunes of 1,310 candidates, including 403 women.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president K. Chiranjeevi, actor N. Balakrishna and Director General of Police Girish Kumar were among the prominent personalities who cast their votes in the first two hours.

This is the first municipal election after Greater Hyderabad was created in 2007 after merging eight municipalities and 12 villages of neighbouring districts with Hyderabad. This has made Greater Hyderabad the second biggest urban agglomerate in the country after New Delhi in terms of area.

Over 10,000 policemen have been deployed as part of the security arrangements for the elections at 5,719 polling centres. Election authorities have pressed 13,347 electronic voting machines into service.

The counting of votes will be taken up Nov 26 while the mayor and deputy mayor will be elected Dec 4.

The multi-cornered elections are the first test of strength for the parties after the April-May elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha. Though the Congress retained power and won majority of Lok Sabha seats, the death of former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash Sep 2 has changed the political scene.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah increased his party's stakes Sunday by throwing a challenge at the leader of opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu that he would resign if Telugu Desam Party (TDP) wins one seat more than the ruling party.

The last election to the then Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) was held in 2002. TDP, which was then in power, had won majority of the seats in the then 100-member body in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TDP candidate was elected mayor in the direct elections held to the post.

This time the newly-elected corporators and ex-officio members (state legislators and MPs) will elect the mayor.

While Congress is contesting all 150 seats, TDP has fielded candidates in 141. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which is likely to emerge kingmaker in the event of a hung house, is contesting 70 seats.

Out of 24 assembly constituencies which come under GHMC limits, TDP could win only one in the recent elections. MIM captured seven seats while BJP and Lok Satta won one each. The remaining seats were won by Congress.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is not contesting the municipal elections as it has decided to intensify the movement for separate statehood to Telangana region, which also includes Hyderabad.