Hyderabad: Polls for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will be held on Tuesday after a high decibel campaign resembling an assembly or parliamentary election, with top leaders from different parties participating in campaign rallies.
As many as 74,44,260 registered voters will exercise their franchise using ballot papers to elect representatives in the 150-ward GHMC, showed official data.
A total of 1,122 candidates are in the fray. The polling begins at 7am and ends at 6pm.
The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) is deploying about 48,000 polling personnel and a 52,500 strong police force for the smooth conduct of the balloting process.
The health department is working in tandem with the administration to ensure safe polling in the wake of the spread of covid.
State Election Commissioner C Parathasarathi has appealed to voters to exercise their franchise as all arrangements, including those in view of the covid-19 pandemic, have been made for smooth polling.
The run-up to GHMC polls saw a high decibel and acrimonious campaign.
Buoyed by its victory in the recent bypoll to Dubbak Assembly constituency, the BJP is sensing a chance to improve its tally and had fielded top party leaders Union home minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani and minister of state (home) G. Kishan Reddy, party MP and BJYM national president Tejaswi Surya for campaigning.
It put spotlight the TRS’s ‘alliance’ with the AIMIM and sought votes to provide clean and transparent governance.
The TRS has, however, denied any alliance with the AIMIM. TRS working president and state municipal administration minister KT Rama Rao led the party’s campaign with party supremo and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao addressing a public meeting.
The campaign for the Congress was led by its state president N Uttam Kumar Reddy and working president A Revanth Reddy, among other senior party leaders.
The TDP, meanwhile, highlighted the development in the city during N Chandrababu Naidu’s regime as chief minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Counting of votes will take place on 4 December.