Re-fixation of wards doubles GHMC seats to 300 from 150
Telangana government expands GHMC seats from 150 to 300, merging 27 urban bodies, making it India's largest municipal corporation.
The Telangana government on Monday night issued orders increasing the total number of seats in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) from 150 to 300 through re-fixation of wards.
The order follows the latest gazette notification issued by the government expanding the territorial limits of the GHMC to cover the entire city of Telangana Core Urban Region (TCUR) by merging 27 surrounding urban local bodies, including 20 municipalities and seven corporations, making the GHMC the largest municipal corporation in the entire country with a geographical area of 2,053 sq km.
The order said the Centre for Good Governance carried out the ward reorganization framework for the GHMC in the context of the merger of 27 urban local bodies.
At present, the GHMC has 150 wards, each represented by an elected corporator. This number will now go up to 300 covering the entire TCUR under sub-section (1) of section 8 read with sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955 (Act No. II of 1956), the latest order said.
The last elections to the 150-member GHMC were held in December 2020, when the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) emerged as the single largest party with 56 seats, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party with 48 seats, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen with 44 seats and the Congress just two seats. The BRS captured the Mayor post with the support of the AIMIM.
The last time the wards in GHMC were revised was on April 16, 2007 when the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad was expanded into the GHMC by merging 12 municipalities and eight grama panchayats surrounding the city. The number of wards then had gone up from 100 to 150.
