MIM begins to bargain for Mayor’s post

Hyderabad, Nov 26 : The split verdict in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls has inflated the hopes in the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (MIM) to eye for the coveted Mayoral post.The GHMC voter did not favour any particular political party -- the Congress, the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) or the MIM, a major political outfit in the political scene of the twin cities – in the polls the results of which are out on Thursday. In the 150-member council, the Congress won 52 seats while the TDP has bagged 45 divisions and the MIM ended up by emerging victorious in 43 divisions.

The verdict is clear that no single party has won even a simple majority to win the Mayoral seat for which an indirect election is held.Taking only the elected members into account, if the Congress and MIM join hands for the Mayor polls, they account for a total of 95 (52 Congress and 43 MIM) which is a comfortable majority. If the MIM decides to sail with the TDP, as is being speculated in political circles immediately after the results were out, they together form a strength of 88 (TDP has 45 and MIM has 43). And obviously here the problem arises.In the GHMC Mayoral polls, besides the elected members, 43 ex-officio members have the voting right of which Congress alone enjoys the support of 31 such members. If the TDP and the MIM do not join hands, the Congress can easily grab the Mayor’s post with the support of the ex-officio members.

However, in the event of the TDP coming closer to the MIM the equations will change as both the parties too have ex-officio members and together they account for a majority.Exactly, the MIM here is taking advantage of the situation and has begun bargaining for the first citizen’s post with both the Congress and the TDP. “Whoever offers us the Mayor’s post, we will go along with that party,” an MIM leader commented.However, political analysts dismiss the possibility of the MIM sailing with the TDP in the backdrop of the TDP earlier aligning itself with the BJP. Thus, they feel that the MIM is only trying to increase its bargaining power by sending feelers to the TDP. “The MIM in any case will not go with the TDP. By signalling to align with the TDP it is only making efforts to force the Congress to offer the top post in the GHMC,” they argue.The analysts feel that finally the MIM will only tie-up with the Congress. “The deal will be struck somewhere like sharing the Mayor’s post for two-and-a-half years each,” they feel. They agree the MIM is now in a commanding position and can easily dictate terms to the Congress. The outcome of the polls has shown that the MIM has the popular support and it is steadily gaining in strength, they say.