The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) has asked the state government to stop relief distribution for Hyderabad's flood-affected families ahead of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, as the model code of conduct is in place for the upcoming civic body polls. An urgent direction by the Secretary, SEC was sent to the Principal Secretary of the Department of Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MAUD) on Wednesday.
Secretary Ashok Kumar, in his communication, said, "I request you to put on hold the registration and distribution of relief to the flood affected families in GHMC limits till declaration of results as it is attracting Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and is likely to influence the elections."
The Telangana government was delivering relief material and financial compensation based on the damage that families have witnessed in recent floods that devastated the residents of Hyderabad.
Earlier on Tuesday, the SEC issued a notification for conducting the elections for 150 divisions in the GHMC's jurisdiction. The MCC has come into force from Tuesday and will be in place till the declaration of the results on December 4. The nomination procedure began on Wednesday,, which will last till November 20. Polling will take place on December 1, using ballot papers.
All political parties, including the ruling TRS are gearing up ahead of the election. While the TRS and AIMIM are expected to have a political understanding, the BJP, which is charged up after a win in the recent Dubbaka Assembly bye-polls, is hoping to gain ground in the GHMC polls as well. The party has appointed its National General Secretary Bhupender Yadav as the incharge for the election. The state government has decided to continue the same reservation system, which was followed in the previous elections conducted in 2016.
While the Congress has chosen to contest alone, actor turned politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party (JSP) is a new addition to the list of contestants.