Hyderabad: Parties face rebel trouble

Hyderabad: If the huge number of nominations (2,602) are any indication and if a substantial number of them do not withdraw by Sunday, all the major parties, TRS, BJP and Congress are likely to face big trouble from the rebel candidates in the GHMC elections.

This time even the number of Independents in the fray is three times more than last time. This gives an indication of how intense the fight is going to be in each division.

According to GHMC officials, 557 nominations were received for 150 divisions from candidates claiming to be from TRS. Likewise, 571 nominations were received from candidates claiming to represent BJP. Another 372 nominations were received from Congress leaders with TDP leaders contributing for 206 nominations.

Although, main political parties announced 150 candidates for 150 divisions, many aspirants who missed out on party tickets entered the fray as rebels. 66 nominations were received from MIM. More than 250-300 nominations were filed individually from TRS, BJP and Congress candidates on the last day for nominations (Friday). Independents have also entered the fray in a big number.

Total of 550 nominations were filed by independents. Scrutiny of forms will be done on November 21 and those candidates willing to withdraw from the race will be allowed to complete the process till Sunday.

In an attempt to overcome the problem of rebels, the main parties have deployed leaders to reach out to the disgruntled leaders and pacify them to withdraw from the race and work for the victory of the party candidate.

Those who do not have B Forms will be rejected if they had filed nominations on behalf of a political party. But if they are not won over, the rebel may damage the prospects of the official candidate. Hence all parties have now swung into damage control exercise which would continue till Sunday evening.