Hyderabad, February 16 (). In a dramatic twist ahead of the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation mayor’s election, five councilors joined the ruling Congress party on Sunday.
Five independent councilors, including two from the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), officially joined the Congress party in the presence of state ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and D. Sridhar Babu.
Sai Jyoti, one of the AIFB councillors, who had joined the BJP on Friday, joined the Congress on Sunday.
The development was a blow to the BJP’s efforts to regain power in Karimnagar Corporation. The election of mayor and deputy mayor of the corporation is to be held on Monday.
In the 66-member Karimnagar Corporation, BJP has emerged as the single largest party with 30 seats.
Congress Party got 14 seats and Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) got 9 seats. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) got three seats. Ten independents have also been elected.
To win the post of Mayor, a party needs 34 votes including ex-official members. Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who is the MP from Karimnagar, had brought four independents into the BJP.
With this, BJP’s number increased to 34. Bandi Sanjay is also entitled to cast his vote as an ex-official member.
The Congress on Sunday intensified its efforts to win the mayor’s seat by inducting an independent who had joined the BJP into its camp.
Congress has the support of AIMIM and has also sought support from the main opposition party BRS. The total number of all three parties is 26.
With the addition of five independents, the number becomes 31 and with the ex-official votes of the MLA from Karimnagar and Manakondur, it further increases to 33.
Congress needs one more councilor to cross the majority mark and is trying its best to get support from independents.
The ruling party has shifted its councilors and independents to a hotel in Hyderabad. Though BJP has also emerged as the single largest party in Nizamabad Municipal Corporation by winning 28 out of total 60 divisions, the party is struggling to reach the magic figure of 31.
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SCH