The ensuing elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation are a matter of prestige for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Bharatiya Janata Party and for that matter, the Congress party to some extent.
But even the Telugu Desam Party and the Jana Sena want to try their luck in the GHMC elections, if not for capturing power, but least to prove their existence in Telangana.
On Tuesday, Jana Sena party president Pawan Kalyan declared that his party is going to contest the elections to the GHMC.
“We have taken a decision to contest the GHMC polls following a request from young party cadre. All the party leaders and city committees should be prepared to contest the elections,” he said.
Pawan pointed out that the Jana Sena Party committees had been doing a lot of ground work in the city and had been taking up the people’s issues at the grassroots level.
However, it is not clear whether Jana Sena Party would have an alliance with the BJP in the GHMC polls.
As of now, both the BJP and Jana Sena have alliance in Andhra Pradesh and they have not made it clear whether the alliance is extended to Telangana as well.
On the other hand, TDP Telangana unit president L Ramana made it clear that his party would go it alone in the GHMC elections.
In 2015, the TDP contested in alliance with the BJP and the combine had won just five divisions in the GHMC.
Since the TDP has severed its links with the BJP in 2018, it is now planning to contest on its own.
“We shall contest only in those seats where the party is strong. Our party has every right to ask for votes in the GHMC polls,” Ramana said.