Telangana BJP claims elections in 2 GHMC wards 'rigged' citing 90%+ turnout; accuses AIMIM

Telangana BJP on Wednesday demanded re-polling in two wards under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), after the polling percentage recorded in both on December 1 was above 90%.

Ramachander Rao, Telangana BJP MLC said, "During the GHMC elections that were held yesterday, in two of the wards under GHMC - ward number 49, Ghansi Bazar and ward number 52 of Purana pul - nearly 20 polling booths recorded about 94% of the voting. So, we demand re-polling in these two wards."

"According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), if the polling percentage is above 80 or 90% and if anyone objects for it, then an enquiry should be called and re-polling must take place. So, the BJP Telangana has raised this issue as the polling percentage in these two wards is nearly 94%," he said.

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Rao claimed that till Tuesday afternoon, the polling percentage was only 35% but by evening it reached 94%.

"We highly doubt this. And moreover, the local MLA of AIMIM, Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, was going around with his followers, so he is responsible for large scale rigging in these polling booths. So, we demand re-polling in these two wards," he added.

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Low voter turnout despite high-level campaigning

A high-decibel, no holds barred campaign involving a battery of BJP leaders such as Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath versus the ruling TRS for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election was followed by a low turnout polling on Tuesday.

About 35% of the 74 lakh-odd voters turned up to cast their votes. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 4. Polling passed off peacefully, but not without any glitch, as repoll was ordered in ward number 26 owing to a symbol mix-up involving the two Left parties-- CPI and CPI (M), officials said. Ballot papers were used in a total of 150 wards of the corporation.

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GHMC Polls 2020

Several parties including TRS, AIMIM, BJP, Congress, TDP, CPI and CPI(M) are in the running for the GHMC polls. A total of 1122 candidates contested the elections in 150 wards of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation

The current term of the GHMC council will end on February 2021. Previously, in the 2016 elections, AIMIM won 44 seats, TRS won 99, BJP 4 seats, Congress 2, and TDP won one seat.

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(With inputs from agency)