Hyderabad Civic Polls: Only 18.2% Polling Till 1 PM In GHMC Polls; Know All About The High Octane Battle

Hyderabad Civic Polls: Buoyed by its victory in the recent bypoll to Dubbak Assembly constituency, the BJP conducted a powerful campaign to win the GHMC polls.

Hyderabad Civic Polls: After a high decibel campaign for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls , the people are set to cast their votes today, deciding the fate of over 1000 candidates from TRS, AIMIM and the Bharatiya Janata Party for 150 wards. 18.20% polling in Hyderabad till 1 pm: Only 18.20 per cent voters cast their votes in the elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) till 1 p.m., polling officials said. KTR, Owaisi, Kishan Reddy cast votes Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao, Union Minister of State G. Kishan Reddy and MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi were among the leaders who cast their vote in the first hour in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections on Tuesday. What are the stakes for BJP, TRS and AIMIM?  The high-stake local election achieved high significance as the Bharatiya Janata Party deployed its heavyweight campaigners to stir the sentiments of the city, desperately hoping to gain some ground in the politics of Telangana, even if it is through just a civic election. Buoyed by its victory in the recent bypoll to Dubbak Assembly constituency, the BJP conducted a powerful campaign to win the GHMC polls. The rally phase saw BJP pitching in big names like Union Minister Amit Shah, firebrand BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP President JP Nadda. Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani and MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy, who is Lok Sabha member from Secunderabad, party MP and BJYM national president Tejaswi Surya also participated in the campaign, with the party hoping to make inroads. The party alleged TRS' "alliance" with the AIMIM and sought votes to provide clean and transparent governance in the city. The TRS, however, denied any alliance with the AIMIM. They raised emotive issues such as Rohingyas being registered as voters and made claims that Hindu population is falling in several parts of the city. Meanwhile, for the TRS, which was once a major force in the state, but marginalised now, it sought to revive its fortunes highlighting the development witnessed in the city, including in the IT sector, during N Chandrababu Naidu's regime as Chief Minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Notably, TRS had swept the polls in 2016 winning 99 of the 150 wards. AIMIM is looking up to an even better performance this year,  as with sizeable Muslim population, the city is considered stronghold of the MIM. It is also buoyed over its impressive performance in recent Bihar elections, where it won five seats.