GHMC Polls: Congress, TDP, BJP Face Rebel Menace

On the nomination withdrawal deadline on Thursday, the leaderships of the Telugu Desam Party, the BJP and the Congress faced the task of battling all the disgruntled leaders refused B-Forms for the upcoming GHMC elections.

Several leaders, who claimed to have served the Parties for years if not decades, created ruckuses at the respective Party offices and at the houses of the leaders for denying them tickets.

Some local leaders attacked the house and office of BJP legislator N V S S Prabhakar at Uppal and smashed his car. The police entered the scene to control the situation.

The scene was similar at the Congress headquarters as two leaders vociferously attacked the leadership. A Kishore Goli from Yakutpura tried to attempt suicide at Gandhi Bhavan against denial of a ticket for his daughter B Prasanna Devi. He sprinkled petrol on himself and tried to set himself ablaze. However, Gandhi Bhavan staff and lower-level leaders thwarted his attempt by pouring water on him.

"I have been serving the Party for over 20 years and the leadership asked us to quit the GHMC fray," Goud wept in anguish. Speaking to the media later, Prasanna Devi alleged that the Party had given the ticket for the Kurmaguda division to Keerthi Nagararaju who was much less qualified for it. The Begum Bazar police counselled Kishore and Prasanna for a while and sent them home.

Similarly, a Shobha Rani Pande from Langar House, who could not control her tears, shouted at the leadership for asking her not to file her nomination after first giving her a B-Form. She alleged that the Congress leaders sold out B-Forms to those who could purchase them.

"I have been serving the party for 25 years and this is how the leadership treats me," she screamed.

Another B-Form aspirant from Moghulpura, Parvathi Sharma, lodged a complaint with the Begum Bazaar Police alleging that TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy was missing. She alleged that the TPCC chief, who assured her a ticket, sold it out to someone else and was not being seen in Hyderabad for the last one week. She also alleged that the police didn't give her any acknowledgement letter for her complaint.

Many other leaders similarly denied B-Forms got down to protests at the Congress office on the last day to submit the forms for the upcoming GHMC elections.

Former MLA Prem Singh Rathore went a step further resigned from the primary membership of the BJP.

"Loyal Party workers do not get tickets for the GHMC elections, but the people who recently joined the BJP from the Congress have been given tickets. Therefore, I have resigned from the party," he said.