Telangana may hold remaining urban local body elections in December

The Telangana government is considering holding elections to remaining urban local bodies, including five municipal corporations, in December after the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is completed. Elections to Zilla Parishads and Mandal Parishads may follow the municipal polls.

Hyderabad: With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls expected to be completed by October, the Congress government is mulling holding elections to the remaining urban local bodies (ULBs), including five municipal corporations, in December. The terms of several municipal bodies have already expired and the government risks losing Finance Commission funds if elections are delayed further.

The government is also considering elections to the Zilla Parishads and Mandal Parishads soon after the urban local body polls. The move is aimed at completing the pending local body election cycle without further delay.

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The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is expected to be completed by October 19. Even if the deadline for claims, objections and their disposal is extended, the exercise is likely to conclude by October 31. The government is planning to use the revised electoral rolls for the civic polls, sources said.

Congress leaders have reportedly asked party cadres to start preparing at the ground level, anticipating notification for the second phase of municipal elections in December. The government is expected to use November for election preparations.

Elections to 116 municipalities and seven corporations whose terms had ended were held in February this year. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), however, was not included as its elected body still had time left. Elections to the Warangal and Khammam corporations were also not held. Polls were deferred in Manuguru, Mandamarri, Atchampet, Nakrekal, Kothur and Siddipet municipalities owing to a combination of pending terms, court cases and other reasons. Elections are also due in some divisions.

The GHMC has since been reorganised by the Congress government into three corporations, i.e. Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri. The restructuring, along with the SIR exercise, has further delayed the polls.

However, the State government is wary of the financial consequences of further postponement. The delay in panchayat elections had already left rural local bodies facing fund shortages, and the government does not want urban bodies, especially those in Hyderabad, to face a similar situation.

The government is simultaneously preparing for the next round of rural local body elections. Sources said polls to 31 Zilla Parishads, excluding Hyderabad and Medchal, and 565 Mandal Parishads could be held in a single phase after the municipal elections.

The government is also considering following the pattern adopted for the panchayat elections and proceeding without providing 42 per cent reservation for backward classes. Congress leaders have reportedly asked party workers to prepare for parishad elections on similar lines.