BRS raises concerns over Hyderabad’s push towards UT status amid GHMC expansion

The BRS has raised concerns over Hyderabad potentially being steered towards Union Territory status following the Congress government’s decision to merge 27 urban local bodies into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Hyderabad: BRS raised apprehension over Hyderabad being pushed towards Union Territory status as the Congress government’s rapid steps to merge 27 urban local bodies into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The party leaders cautioned that arbitrary changes to Hyderabad’s governance structure could have far-reaching consequences.

During the heated debate on the proposed amendments to the Telangana Municipalities Act and the GHMC Act in the Telangana Legislative Council on Friday, BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan said reports suggesting such a possibility were doing the rounds and felt that the Revanth Reddy government’s hurried decisions had only added fuel to the fire. He said Hyderabad, the backbone of Telangana’s economy, cannot be subjected to unilateral decisions taken without public confidence.

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Accusing the Congress government of diluting the spirit of the 74th Constitutional Amendment, the BRS MLC stressed that laws must strengthen and uphold democratic decentralisation and local self-governance.

He said the merger of 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was carried out without consultation with citizens or the elected representatives. He said the absence of ward-wise meetings and prior communication with corporators amounted to a violation of democratic norms.

Warning against excessive centralisation, Sravan said ignoring grassroots opinion and concentrating power in Hyderabad, could hamper balanced development across Telangana. He stated that the government’s focus on expanding Hyderabad was coming at the cost of neglecting other districts, leading to regional disparities. He argued that the proposed mergers could also erode Hyderabad’s distinctive cultural ethos and its long-standing “Ganga–Jamuni tehzeeb”.