Hyderabad: The Congress-led Telangana government’s decision to merge 27 municipalities into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits has not gone down with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The decision will increase the GHMC wards from the existing 150 to 300, double its since.
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led party has been a dominant force in the GHMC area as it has been retaining close to 50 out of the 150 wards in the GHMC elections until now. However, with the seats increasing to 300 now, the AIMIM will lose its status as kingmaker or even king perhaps, as other parties will now no longer need its support if it wins half the seats on its own.
The main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) had won 99 out of 150 wards, while the AIMIM won 44 seats in the 2015 GHMC polls. The BRS then did not need any support to bag the position of the GHMC Mayor and deputy Mayor. Subsequently in the 2020 elections, the AIMIM retained its 44 seats, while the BRS won 56, and the BJP 48.
With the BRS emerging as the single largest party, but without a clear majority, it was able to still bag the GHMC Mayor and deputy Mayor positions with support from the AIMIM. With the total wards now going above 300, bigger parties can try and win more seats on their own. More importantly, the AIMIM will also have to fight more for funds for the Old City in Hyderabad, where civic infrastructure is always in question.
“How are they doing this expansion? It is being done on the basis of voters. The 2015 delimitation of GHMC wards was done on the 2011 census basis of population. Earlier there were 100 wards in the old MCH area, and it was expanded to 150 under the Congress in the joint Andhra Pradesh state. In 2015, census enumeration data was used and the 150 GHMC seats were reorganised to make each one uniform,” said a senior AIMIM functionary.
“The government doesn’t even have money to spend for its people as they keep saying they don’t have money. Even civic amenities in the city like streetlights, roads and garbage cleaning are not there. So how will they spend money on the new areas?” he further questioned.
According to the GHMC website, the current civic body is spent over an area of 65 square kilometers, and with the expansion it will go a little above 2000 sq km, about three times its size. The civic body was formed on April 16, 2007, by merging 12 municipalities and eight Gram Panchayats with the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, which ceased to exist after the GHMC was formed.
The municipalities added to MCH to create GHMC are: LB Nagar, Gaddi Annaram, Uppal Kalan, Malkajgiri, Kapra, Alwal, Qutubullapur, Kukatpally, Serilingampalle, Rajendranagar, Ramachandrapuram, and Patancheru. These municipalities are in Rangareddy district and Medak district. The panchayats are Shamshabad, Satamarai, Jallapalli, Mamdipalli, Mankhal, Almasguda, Sardanagar and Ravirala.
Prior to the creation of GHMC, the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad had a population of 4.5 millions (or 45 lakh) in an area of 172 sq km. In 2007, the GHMC area had a population of 6.7 million or 67 lakh. It is to be seen what the exact population will be after the new expansion.
Congress leaders however brushed aside the AIMIM’s apprehensions, stating that it will continue to hold the same position it does politically now. “They have only seven seats in the Assembly, but they are still called kingmakers. No party in power will ever need them as an alliance, but AIMIM will still be important because of their hold over Muslims whose support both Congress or BRS will need,” said a senior Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leader, who did not want to be named.
