Hyderabad: The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has emerged as the single-largest party in the Hyderabad civic polls winning 55 out of the 150 wards in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) that went to the polls on December 1. The results of 149 wards were available till reports last came, where the BJP bagged 48, followed by AIMIM (44) and Congress, which managed to win two seats. Counting of votes had to be stopped in a ward as per a High Court order.
The rulling TRS, which just managed to retain control of the civic body it won four years ago, admitted the results were not on expected lines. Party's Working President K T Rama Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, said the party's performance will be discussed in an internal forum. He said TRS lost several wards by extremely low margins.
"However, there is nothing to feel disappointed about," he added.
He thanked the people for making TRS the single largest party.
Meanwhile, BJP's resurgent performance prompted the state leadership to describe it as a "saffron strike", while party in-charge Bhupendar Yadav said it has now emerged as the "only alternative" to the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regional dispensation with people accepting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brand of good governance. From four wards in the 2016 GHMC polls as an ally of the Telugu Desam Party, the saffron party has managed a ten time jump all alone.
The GHMC election results came as a rude shock to the Congress as it won only two wards. State Congress president and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that he has submitted his resignation from the post of PCC president. Reddy added he has requested the AICC to take up the process of selection of a new president of state Congress.
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM came up with a strong performance in its traditional bastion of the old city of Hyderabad.