The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in south Indian state Telangana on Friday pulled off a spectacular victory and coasted to majority in the prestigious Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, decimating the TDP-BJP alliance and the Congress.
From not even contesting the last GHMC polls in 2009, the TRS led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) bagged 96 seats in the 150-member house and was leading in four divisions on Friday night. In what turned out to be a two-horse race, Hyderabad Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM bagged 36 divisions, and was leading in four, trying to match its 2009 performance of 43 seats.
MIM in 2009 had shared power with the Congress which had in its kitty 55 seats.
“It has always been a fractured verdict (in Hyderabad). I thank the people, TRS leaders and workers for this victory. We should not have arrogance. We should move ahead with humility,” KCR told reporters tonight.
It was in fact a humiliating defeat for the TDP-BJP alliance that together had 50 corporators fighting separately in 2009 and the Congress which had to be content with single digit numbers in the February two elections, where the stakes were high coming as it did first time after the formation of Telangana in 2014.