Congress wrests Nizamabad mayor post from BJP, with help from MIM

Hyderabad: Despite BJP emerging as the single largest party in the Nizamabad municipal corporation, Congress on Monday won the mayor's post after reaching a post-poll understanding with AIMIM, which was given the deputy mayor post.Congress had won the Nizamabad mayor seat after a gap of nearly 20 years. The last time it held the post was in 2006 in the undivided AP. There were reports that the lone BRS corporator reportedly voted in favour of Congress and AIMIM candidates for the two top posts, but the BRS leadership denied this and said it would look into the matter and take action accordingly.
Kuragayala Uma Rani of Congress and Salma Tahseen of AIMIM were elected mayor and deputy mayor respectively. The election was preceded by high drama, with BJP leaders appealing to corporators and ex officio members to vote as per their conscience. The mayor's post was reserved for women-general, and Congress fielded a BC-woman candidate.Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud described the party's performance in the state's municipal elections as a referendum on the Congress govt's performance. Uttam said the results reflected a rejection of BJP's attempts at religious polarisation in north Telangana.Speaking to party cadres and functionaries at the Congress office in Nizamabad after the mayoral election in the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation, Uttam, who was in charge of all urban local bodies (ULBs) in the Nizamabad parliamentary constituency limits, said the outcome was an endorsement of inclusive, development-focused governance and a defeat for divisive tactics. He said the Congress govt was committed to the development of the Nizamabad municipal corporation and all ULBs in the state.In the 60-ward Nizamabad municipal corporation, BJP had won 28 seats, followed by Congress with 17, AIMIM 14 and BRS with 1. Congress took its vote tally to 34 with the support of 17 AIMIM corporators, two of its ex officio members and a BRS member. In the 2020 election, Congress had won two seats in the corporation.Uma Rani and Lalita were in the race for the mayor's post from Congress. Uma's husband Ramesh, who belongs to the Mudiraj community, is a follower of TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud. Lalita belongs to the Munnurkapu community. Shakeel Fazal, husband of deputy mayor Salma, is AIMIM's Nizamabad city president.BJP, which won 28 seats, took its vote tally to 31 including its ex officio members. BJP leaders alleged that Congress, along with AIMIM and other parties, had made a mockery of democracy, and claimed it once again proved that Congress, AIMIM and BRS were secret partners.