With AIMIM's support, TRS wins Hyderabad Mayor, deputy Mayor posts

The elections to the GHMC held on December 1 witnessed a close contest between the TRS and the BJP. The TRS won only 56 seats in the 150-member GHMC council and was 20 seats short of the absolute majority.

Gadwal Vijayalakshmi of Telangana Rashtra Samithi was on Thursday elected Mayor of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, thanks to the strategic support from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) at the eleventh hour. Another TRS corporator Mothe Srilatha Reddy from Tarnaka division was elected Deputy Mayor. She defeated Shankar Yadav of the BJP.

Gadwal Vijayalakshmi (left) and Mothe Srilatha Reddy. (HT Photo)

Vijayalakshmi, who represents Banjara Hills division of the GHMC, is the daughter of TRS parliamentary party leader K Kesava Rao. She defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Radha Dheeraj Reddy, corporator from R K Puram division.

She is the first woman Mayor after the formation of Telangana state in 2014 and the second woman to occupy the chair after the formation of GHMC in 2009, the first one being Banda Kartika Reddy of the Congress.

Both Vijayalakshmi and Srilatha were chosen by TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and their names forwarded to the party in a sealed cover. The names were announced by TRS working president K T Rama Rao at a meeting of the newly-elected TRS corporators at the GHMC premises.

TRS corporator from Khairatabad, P Vijayalakshmi, who was the front-runner for the Mayor post, walked out of the meeting in protest. She did not take part in the voting.

The elections to the GHMC held on December 1 witnessed a close contest between the TRS and the BJP. The TRS won only 56 seats in the 150-member GHMC council and was 20 seats short of the absolute majority.

The BJP finished a close second with 48 seats. The AIMIM retained its strength of 44 seats, which it had in the previous term. The Congress ended up with just two seats.

Though the TRS was 20 seats short of the majority mark, it was hopeful of winning the Mayor and deputy Mayor posts with the help of 38 co-option members, including the party MPs, MLAs and MLCs who registered their vote in GHMC limits.

The BJP had only two co-option members so the chances of winning the Mayor and deputy Mayor posts were very bleak. Interestingly, the AIMIM, which has 44 seats and 10 co-option votes, announced that it would also field candidates for the two posts, making the contest more interesting.

Including the co-option members, the total number of members taking part in the voting on Thursday was 193 and the TRS required 97 votes to grab the top posts. However, it had only 88 votes – 56 elected corporators and 32 co-option members and it made the contest tight.

However, a few minutes before the election of Mayor and deputy mayor was held at 12.30 pm, the AIMIM announced that it was dropping out of the contest and was extending support to the TRS, much to the shock of the BJP.

As a result, the TRS could get 100 votes (56 of TRS and 44 of AIMIM) and it could walk away with both the Mayor and deputy Mayor posts comfortably, without banking the co-option votes.

Earlier, the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected corporators of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was completed with Presiding Officer Swetha Mohanthy conducting the proceedings. Election Observer Sandeep Kumar Sultania monitored the proceedings.

The members took their oath en masse in four different languages, Telugu, Urdu, Hindi and English.

Expressing happiness over her election as Mayor, Vijayalakshmi thanked KCR and KTR for reposing faith in her. “As a woman Mayor, my first priority is to ensure safety and security to women in the city and develop Hyderabad as a global city,” she said.

BJP legislator from Hyderabad T Raja Singh said the TRS had dug its own grave by taking the support from the MIM. “It is nothing but a betrayal of faith of the people of Hyderabad. In the coming assembly elections, the TRS will have to pay a penalty for the same,” he said.