Several mayoral hopefuls lose ward battle in civic polls

Hyderabad: The dreams of several candidates aspiring to become mayors and chairpersons in various municipal corporations and municipalities were shattered after their defeat in the polls. Some of these candidates had received the green signal from their respective party leaderships for the coveted posts. Many of the mayoral and chairperson aspirants had allegedly spent large sums of money not only in the wards and divisions they contested, but also by sponsoring other candidates who supported their aspirations for mayor or chairperson posts.Katpally Shamantha Kumari, one of the Congress mayoral candidates from ward 19 of the Nizamabad municipal corporation, lost the election to a BJP candidate. Shamantha and her husband had reportedly paid nearly Rs 8 crore in property tax and cleared other dues to become eligible to file her nomination.
Sources in the Nizamabad Congress said Shamantha had received the green signal even from the local leadership and was considered one of the top contenders for the mayoral post if the party secured a majority of seats. She was defeated in the election. Ward 19, from which she contested, was an unreserved general seat, and the BJP it.In Armoor municipality, AB Sridevi of the Congress, who was in contention for the chairperson's post, lost the election from ward 17. She was defeated by a BRS candidate in a ward reserved for BC women. Two other contenders for the chairperson's post in Armoor municipality, K Sangeetha from ward 18 and G Jyothi Reddy from ward 19, were also defeated in their respective wards by a BJP candidate and an independent candidate, respectively.Similar defeats were reported elsewhere. Mayoral aspirants from a couple of political parties lost in the Mahabubnagar municipal corporation, while chairperson candidates in Alampur and several other municipalities also faced defeat.Leaders of various political parties said these candidates had allegedly spent huge sums not only to win their own elections but also to support other candidates finalised by the party who backed their candidature for mayor or chairperson posts. A senior leader said that in politics, there are always multiple strong contenders for mayor and chairperson posts, and that it would not be a problem for any party to finalise or put up another strong contender for the top posts. The indirect election of mayors, deputy mayors, chairpersons and deputy chairpersons is scheduled for Feb 16.