Interestingly, while GHMC polls should normally raise civic problems like water, sewerage, sanitation, roads, and other amenities, the campaign, which has just ended, showed a polarizing trend. Ignoring civic issues, the campaign was around polarising comments on Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, allegations of Rohingya refugees, and a Hindu-Muslim narrative.
This made the Director-General of Police Mahender Reddy after a security meeting warn the parties. “They are trying to incite communal trouble. We are examining the speeches carefully. Action will be taken per law against those trying to create disturbances,” he said.
Hyderabad has one of the largest Muslim populations for a city in India; about 44 per cent of people are Muslims while 52 per cent are Hindu.
All the parties have been generous in promising sops to the electorate if they win. The BJP, TRS, and Congress have promised free drinking water supply to the city, while the BJP has promised free vaccine to tackle novel coronavirus and rename Hyderabad as Bhagya Nagar.
KCR is threatening to mobilize a non-BJP opposition front including the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, etc. in an attempt to reviving the anti-BJP front.
Opinion polls have come up with varied findings giving the maximum seat to the TRS at 85, while almost all of them see the BJP winning nearly 30 per cent of the votes. The outcome of this election will have significant bearing on the political shape of Telengana in the coming period.
