Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s National President JP Nadda are set to campaign for the party ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.
The three key leaders of the party are expected to arrive in Hyderabad over the next few days and campaign until November 29, reports suggest. Polling to elect a new 150-seat GHMC is scheduled for December 1.
The BJP is hoping that the star campaigners’ fire power will help as it challenges the state’s ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) which is led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
The saffron party’s list of star campaigners includes former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, union ministers Smriti Irani and Prakash Javadekar, and Member of Parliament and the party’s Yuva Morcha chief Tejasvi Surya.
Also Read: Hyderabad municipal elections, usually a dull affair, heat up after BJP takes on TRS monopoly
The BJP is looking at the civic election as a key stepping stone to its prospects not just in Hyderabad, but also other states of South India. While the next assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to happen only in 2023, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry are set to head for state polls in April-May 2021.
In 2016, the TRS had won 99 of the 150 seats and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) had won 44 seats, leaving no room for the BJP, other parties and Independents.
