Hyderabad: The upcoming Council election in the Hyderabad Local Authorities Constituency (LAC) is expected to be a contest mainly between the BJP and AIMIM. The Congress and BRS parties are likely to stay out of the race.
Sources say that the Congress is not showing interest in contesting this election. There are reports that the Congress may support the AIMIM candidate instead. Recently, one of the five council members who retired was from AIMIM, and the Congress is said to have agreed to support AIMIM in this seat.
In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), AIMIM holds 49 of the 110 seats. The BJP has 22 seats, while Congress has 14. The BRS now has 25 seats, but many of its corporators have already joined the ruling Congress party.
A senior BRS leader said the party does not want to risk another loss. The BRS has faced a series of defeats, including in the December 2023 Assembly elections and the April-May 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party has decided to focus on upcoming local body elections instead. This is not new for the BRS—before 2014, when it was called TRS, it had also skipped GHMC elections.
The BJP has decided to contest the seat and sees this as a chance to challenge both Congress and BRS. BJP leaders believe they have a good chance of winning, especially since the political loyalties of many corporators are unclear. Some corporators, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, have joined Congress, along with several others who switched sides before the Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission of India released the official poll schedule on March 28. The last date to file nominations is April 4, the deadline to withdraw candidacy is April 9, and polling will be held on April 23.
