Hyderabad, February 17 – Telangana’s ruling Congress party secured control of seven more municipalities on Tuesday, while the main opposition BRS party gained control of one urban local body.
Elections for Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons in three municipalities were postponed again due to a lack of quorum and clashes between Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) members.
Elections for the posts of Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons could not be held on Monday due to various reasons, including violence.
Chaos prevailed again in several municipalities as the opposition accused the ruling party of resorting to hooliganism and undemocratic measures.
The Janagaon and Thorrur municipalities in the undivided Warangal district once again witnessed clashes between the two sides.
As the elections in both urban bodies ended in a tie, the winner was decided through a draw of lots. Luck favoured the Congress in both places.
The Congress comfortably secured the municipalities of Yellandu, Sultanabad, Dornakal, and Zaheerabad, and also captured Kagaznagar with the support of the BJP.
The BRS gained control of the Inderesham municipality.
Although the BRS candidate was elected as Chairperson of the Ibrahimpatnam municipality, the State Election Commission stopped the process due to a stay granted by the High Court.
The meetings of the Ketanapally and Khanapur municipalities ended in chaos, forcing authorities to postpone the election again.
In the 16-member Thorrur municipality, the BRS had secured nine seats while the Congress secured seven seats. With the votes of Palakurthy MLA Yashaswini Reddy and Warangal MP Kadiyam Kaaviya (both ex officio members), the strength of the Congress also rose to nine. The authorities decided the chairperson through a draw of lots. Congress's Shravan was elected chairman.
BRS leaders, led by former minister E. Dayakar Rao, staged a protest over Kaaviya being allowed to cast a vote as an ex-officio member. They argued that she was ineligible to cast a vote.
Dayakar Rao became emotional after the BRS lost the election in the draw of lots. He accused the ruling party of murdering democracy.
In the 30-member Jangaon, the BRS had won 13 wards while two independents had declared support to the party. With the vote of ex officio member and BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, the strength of the BRS had increased to 16. The Congress had won 12 wards while its ally, the CPI, had bagged one ward. Two independents also extended support to Congress. With the support of ex officio member and Bhongir MP Kiran Kumar Reddy, the ruling party also polled 16 votes. The winner was decided by a draw of lots. Balamani of Congress was elected Chairperson, while an independent was elected Vice-Chairperson with the support of the BRS.
With the victory in seven municipalities on Tuesday, the Congress tally has risen to 91.
Elections were held for 116 municipalities on February 11 and results were declared on February 13.
The BRS gained control of 18 municipalities while the BJP secured one municipality.
Independent candidates were elected as Chairpersons of three municipalities.
Though Congress had secured a majority in 66 municipalities, its councillors were elected as Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons in another 25 municipalities with the support of other parties and independents.
Out of the seven municipal corporations for which elections were held, along with 116 municipalities, the Congress secured the posts of both Mayor and Deputy Mayor in four municipal corporations – Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nalgonda, and Ramagundam.
A CPI nominee was elected the Mayor of the Kothagudem Municipal Corporation, while the Congress secured the post of Deputy Mayor. The two parties had won 22 seats each in the 60-member corporation.
In the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation, the Congress candidate was elected Mayor, while AIMIM got the post of Deputy Mayor.
The BJP captured the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation with the support of some independents.