Elections to the 150 Ward Committees of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) began on a stormy note on Thursday, as Corporators from the Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged manipulations and protested over the selections. One of the TDP Corporators was physically evicted by marshals.
The names of 135 Ward Committees were selected on Thursday, while the remaining 15 Ward Committee members will be elected on a later date.
The TDP and BJP members stormed the podium from which Mayor B Kartika Reddy was announcing the names of the selected Ward Committee members, and shouted their objections. They said that the names being announced were those of stooges of the Congress party, and that deserving candidates were being ignored.
The Corporators from the opposition accused the Congress of using the Ward Committee elections as an opportunity "to rehabilitate the Congress party's unemployed henchmen."
As the situation seemingly began to go out of hand, the TDP and the BJP Corporators staged a walk out.
Talking to media persons later, the TDP Corporators said that the Congress and its allies had utilised the elections to select 'land-grabbers' and persons from criminal backgrounds, while Corporators with a genuine desire to serve the people were being marginalised.