Cong feels the heat in local body polls.

ELECTION fever has gripped political parties in Andhra Pradesh once again. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation ( GHMC), the biggest local body in the state, is going to polls on November 23, heating up the political atmosphere in the state capital.

The elections assume significance, because they are the first being held after the general elections in April last and also the first elections to the GHMC, which came into being in April 2007, with the merger of 11 municipalities and several gram panchayats into the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad ( MCH). Geographically, Greater Hyderabad is the biggest urban conglomeration in the entire country with 150 divisions.

In a way, the GHMC elections are considered " mini- general elections," thereby making it prestigious for all major political parties.

For the Congress, the GHMC elections are the first test of popularity in the absence of its star campaigner -- former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash on September 2. In the last general elections which were held along with the state assembly polls, YSR's charisma had single- handedly led the party to victory.

The party had won 14 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats within the Greater Hyderabad limits, which has given it an edge in the present elections.

However, the Congress is in a chaotic state now. Though YSR's son Jaganmohan Reddy made a desperate attempt to fill the void created by his father's death by projecting himself as the only hope of the party in the State, the Congress high command cut him to size and asked senior leader K Rosaiah to continue as the chief minister and lead the party in the GHMC polls. This has forced Jagan to withdraw into his shell and he has not evinced any interest in campaigning for the party.

In the meantime, the " cash- forticket" scandal hit the Congress party, with several aspirants alleging that top leaders like PCC president D Srinivas, Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee president Danam Nagender and in- charge minister Sabita Indra Reddy were selling tickets for Rs 30 lakh each. Peeved at the allegations against him, Nagender resigned from the GHCC post. Because of the bungling in ticket distribution, the Congress party now faces a threat from rebels in as many as 100 divisions. C OMPARED to the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party is placed in a better position, though it is also facing rebel threat in some divisions. The TDP has an alliance with the Communist parties, but they are not happy with the seat sharing pact. The decision of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi not to contest the GHMC elections and that of Praja Rajyam Party to restrict itself to only 51 seats has come as a blessing in disguise for the TDP. Party president N Chandrababu Naidu is hoping to cash in on the absence of YSR and his extensive campaigning is highlighting the good work done by the erstwhile TDP government to develop Hyderabad.

Another party which is in the reckoning in the GHMC polls is the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has considerable presence among urban voters. In the 2002 MCH elections, BJP had an alliance with the TDP and won a good number of seats, besides having its candidate as the Deputy Mayor.

This time, too, it hopes to win at least 20 seats.

The new entrant into politics, Lok Satta, headed by ex- bureacrat Jayaprakash Narayan, is giving the major political parties a run for their money. Though it might not win many seats, it is expected to play spoilsport with the prospects of the candidates of major parties in several divisions.

Its innovative campaign " Seeti bajao, City bachao ( Blow the Whistle and Save the City)" -- its election symbol is a whistle -- has caught on well with youth and women in Hyderabad.

The Majlis- e- Ittehadul Muslimeen is confined to the Muslim- dominated areas of the Old City and surrounding areas.

Because of its tacit understanding with the Congress and polarisation of Muslim votes, it hopes to win at least 50 seats and stake claim for the post of Mayor or deputy Mayor.

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