GHMC Elections: Repoll For Puranapul On February 5

Re-polling has been ordered for the Puranapul division of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on February 5 consequent to the clash between the Congress and the MIM supporters on the polling day on February 2.

The re-polling will be held between 7 am to 3 pm on Friday in 36 booths of the division having an electorate of 36,413.

Counting of votes in the 150 divisions for which polling was held on February 2, which was scheduled to take place on Friday from 7 am, has been postponed due to the re-polling. It will now commence at 5pm in the evening after the completion of the re-polling.

For those who came in late, Congress candidate from the Puranapul division Mohammed Gouse and the MIM MLA from Charminar Pasha Qadri had entered a heated argument at the fag end of polling time on Tuesday. With the supporters of both the parties coming to clashes, the police detained both Gouse and Qadri.

However, the situation turned tense and later violent with the arrival of the MIM's Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and TPCC leaders Uttam Kumar Reddy and Shabbir Ali at the Mir Chowk police station to release their respective leaders. Even as the leaders engaged in a verbal war, the vehicle of Uttam Kumar Reddy was damaged and Shabbir Ali was assaulted by MIM supporters. The police brought the situation under control with great difficulty.

The attack on the Congress leaders triggered a dharna by the Congress leaders before the DGP's office on Tuesday evening, and they calmed down only after an assurance that the culprits would be dealt with according to the law.

The incident also led to widespread resentment and criticism by all political parties, and even resulted in an all-Party delegation meeting Governor E S L Narsimhan at Raj Bhavan demanding the immediate arrest of and booking of criminal cases against Asaduddin Owaisi and other MIM leaders involved in the ugly incident.

As a consequence of this incident, the State election authorities have decided to order a re-poll in Puranapul on Friday.