GHMC Polls: BJP’s Communal Agenda, TRS Targets Centre’s Policies

Hyderabad: The high decibel campaign for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections scheduled on December 1 ended on Sunday (November 29) evening. Analysts say that the battle among political parties eyeing the Hyderabad Mayor seat has never been so intense as it was this time.

While Telangana Rashtra Samithi is in race in all 150 divisions of GHMC, BJP has fielded candidates in 149 seats, Congress in 146, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 106, AIMIM in 51, and Left parties alliance in 29 (CPI -17, CPI(M) -12), independents in 415 and 76 from other parties.

Common people in the state who weren’t aware of the communal agenda of the BJP have realised their politics through these GHMC elections, said senior journalist and political analyst Telakapalli Ravi.

BJP roped in its national leaders including Union ministers -- Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani, Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra former CM Devendra Fadnavis, Bangalore South MP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) National President Tejasvi Surya among others for campaigning in the local body polls revealing its eagerness for making inroads into the Telugu state.

While the state BJP president Bandi Sanjay began his campaign from Bhagya Lakshmi temple near Charminar in Old city, the key words of the saffron party leaders in the campaign have been “illegal immigrants”, “Rohingyas and Bangaldesi Muslims”, “Surgical Strike”, “Nizam” besides wooing voters through their manifesto.

“The BJP’s campaign had a three-tier strategy approach -- firstly the party relied on its national leadership, invoked communal and hatred discourse and encouraged defections from rival parties -- all of which attracted media hype coverage,” Ravi explained. “TRS, on the other side, which tasted loss in the recent Dubbak by-poll to BJP, had led an intense campaign mainly targeting BJP’s communal agenda and central government policies including privatisation of public sector units, while urging voters for another term.” But, he added that the BJP campaign may not cause “huge” loss for TRS.

During his roadshows in the city, Tejasvi Surya called for name changing of Hyderabad to “Bhagya Nagar,”, which triggered a Twitter storm as a derogatory Telugu word trended that translates as “Get lost Tejasvi Surya” and thousands called him “hate monger” on the social media platform. Furthermore, a criminal case was booked against the BJP MP for trespassing into Osmania University by forcefully removing barricades creating a “high tension” situation.

Also read: GHMC Elections: Key Parties Intensify Campaign on a Virtual Battleground

Bandi Sanjay has been at the forefront in leading a “provocative” campaign against the TRS and AIMIM. For instance, Sanjay called for a “surgical strike not to kill but to weed out” Rohingyas, illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan from the Old city. The saffron party leader accused TRS and AIMIM of helping thousands of “illegal immigrants” in getting their votes registered in the city. Javadekar, Irani and Fadnavis have also raised the issue of “illegal immigrants” in Hyderabad polls while Adityanath and Shah criticised the “friendship” between AIMIM and TRS.

Telangana Police has also booked Bandi Sanjay and AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi for allegedly making “provocative” speeches during the campaign. During a speech, Akbaruddin asked the government to “remove PV Narasimha Rao ghat and NTR ghat” near Hussainsagar before thinking about encroachments by the poor. Countering this, Sanjay allegedly called for targeting Darussalam where AIMIM party office is located. 

Ever since the election notification came out, the TRS has been countering the “divisive politics” of BJP and its leaders criticised the central government for “discriminating” Telangana over other states. 

“Some divisive forces are trying to enter Hyderabad and create havoc in the city. Are we going to allow it? Are we going to lose our peace?,” said CM K Chandrashekar Rao while addressing a public meeting in LB Stadium in Hyderabad targeting BJP. In a “pragati nivedika”report on Hyderabad released by TRS, it stated that over Rs 67,000 crore have been spent in GHMC in the last six years.

“Although Congress was behind in its campaign compared to TRS and BJP, it appeared to focus on its stronghold divisions,” said Ravi. “As both BJP and TRS claimed that AIMIM is their main opponent, the majlis party focussed in gaining strength in Old city divisions relying on its traditional vote bank there,” he added.

Left parties are contesting in 29 divisions where the majority of working class sections reside. Speaking to NewsClick, Narasimha Rao, Communist Party of India (Marxist) GHMC Convenor said that the parties have seen a positive response during their door-to-door campaigns and rallies. “Our three main agendas in the elections have been appealing people to reject communal forces like BJP, AIMIM, striving for improving better living conditions in Hyderabad and urban employment for young people during this ensuing economic and health crisis,” said Rao.

Also read: Hyderabad Municipal Polls: Opposition Intensifies Campaign over ‘Failed Promises’ of TRS

During 2016 GHMC elections, the overall poll percentage was 45.29%. At that time, the ruling TRS won in 99 divisions while All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) won in 44 wards. The BJP won in four wards leaving two for the Congress and one seat for Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The TDP corporator later joined the ruling TRS.

There are 74,04,770 eligible voters in this election which is going to be conducted through ballot paper mode instead of EVM machine.

“Whatever might be the election outcome, the tragedy in these elections has been the death of city leadership,” pointed out Professor K Nageswar Rao. He questioned “why none of the key political parties had a frontline woman leader despite the Mayor seat being reserved for a woman candidate.” 

“Putting the development concerns of the city people on the back foot, parties have relied on communal polarisation, image of K Chandrashekar Rao and Narendra Modi and nationalism in their campaigning setting a bad precedence in Hyderabad polls,” he said.