GHMC polls: ‘No hurry to elect Mayor and her deputy, elections to be held after Feb 10’

“We are yet to decide any dates for the Mayor Election. When we issue notification, it will have the dates,” state election commissioner said. The Mayor's chair is reserved for a Woman Corporator this time.

The elections for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation will be held after February 10. In the elections to the Corporation’s council held last month, the ruling TRS had won 56 divisions, whereas BJP came second with 48 divisions, followed by the AIMIM who secured 44 divisions.

“The State Election Commission is taking action to publish the declaration of results in the Telangana State Gazette. After the publication of results, the first meeting of the newly elected corporation will be held for the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The term of the newly elected Corporation will be five years from the date of the first meeting of the Corporation,” GHMC said in a statement Thursday.

When contacted, C Partha Sarathi, state election commissioner, said that the commission was in no hurry and would proceed according to the Constitution of India and the GHMC Act. “We are yet to decide any dates for the Mayor Election. When we issue notification, it will have the dates,” he said. The Mayor’s chair is reserved for a Woman Corporator this time.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Sarathi said election to the post of Mayor can be expected soon after February 10 or even on the same date. “We have to publish (results) in the Gazette first. It can be done between January 10 and 15. Within one month, we have to hold the first meeting. So after January 15th, we will issue a notification. We are not in any hurry,” he said. “We are an independent constitutional body. We don’t act by the whims and fancies of anyone,” he added.

A day earlier, the newly elected GHMC Corporators of the BJP staged a protest near the Chief Minister’s residence demanding the formation of the new GHMC Council. They alleged that the state government was delaying the process although the results of the GHMC elections were announced a month ago. They were taken into preventive custody. Similarly, several BJYM activists were detained by police after the state leadership gave a ‘Chalo Pragathi Bhavan’ call to stage a protest against the delay in the formation of the new GHMC council. Pragathi Bhavan is the official residence of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The SEC had held elections to GHMC on December 1, three months before the end of the Council’s term, citing provisions of Section 7 of GHMC Act, 1955, that states every ordinary election to the Corporation shall be held within 3 months before the day of retirement of the existing members.

The term of the Corporation, according to Article 243-U of Constitution of India, will be for 5 years from the date of the first meeting of the Corporation. As per the provisions of Section 88 (b) of the GHMC Act, the first meeting of the present Corporation was held on February 10, 2016. Thus, as per the provisions of Section 6 of the GHMC Act, the term of the existing Corporation would expire on February 10, 2021.

The State Election Commission is likely to publish the names of elected Ward Members in the Telangana State Gazette in the coming days. “According to Section 66 of GHMC Act, 1955, the State Election Commission shall publish the results in the Telangana State Gazette containing the names of the elected candidates. Further according to provisions of Section 88(b) of GHMC Act, 1955, the first meeting after general elections shall be held within a month of the publication of the declaration of result in the Telangana State Gazette,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the election authority of GHMC has asked the candidates who contested the GHMC polls last month to submit their election-related expenditure details before January 17 for the scrutiny by election expenditure observers, or else they would cease to hold office and be disqualified from contesting any election held under GHMC Act for three years. The SEC had limited the election-related expenditure for each contesting candidate to Rs 5 lakh.

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