Telangana won, TRS now shifts focus to municipal elections

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi will join hands with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to fight the corporation elections together. Vicky Nanjappa reports

If the formation of the state of Telangana was not a big enough task for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the forthcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation, to be held in the next 3 months, has added to their worries.  

Control over the corporation is a prestigious issue for any political party, as it would give them control over Hyderabad. 

The TRS may have done extremely well in the assembly elections, but the big worry for the party is the urban sector where the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine put up an impressive show.

This has prompted the TRS and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to join hands. Though not official, sources say the 2 parties will fight the corporation elections together. 

For the TRS, the BJP has not been an option due to its alliance with TDP. The TRS feels allying with anyone close to the TDP will earn them the wrath of the Telangana people.

The MIM on the other hand is considered a like-minded party. The Muslims form a large part of the electorate in the Hyderabad corporation and this has helped the MIM in the past. The current mayor of the corporation is from the MIM. 

The TRS currently needs no support from any party to form the government in Telangana. But it would need the MIM in the corporation elections. A senior TRS leader met with Akbaruddin and Asad Owaisi on Monday.

Hyderabad remains a problem area for the TRS. The city will be a joint capital for Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years and the union government -- led by Narendra Modi -- will have control over the law and order situation until such time.

The MIM has appealed to the Muslims to vote for them for this very reason.

But TRS General Secretary Subhash Reddy says it cannot be called an alliance (TRS-MIM). All like-minded parties should work together for the development of Telangana. At the moment the focus is on putting together the new government.

TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao will be sworn in as chief minister on June 2, the state formation day and there is a likelihood of 6 ministers being sworn in along with him.

“In all we can have 18 ministers with the CM only since the rule states that the number should be 15 per cent of the total house strength of 119,” Reddy said. 

Image: TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao