Urban local body elections not in near future

HYDERABAD: Elections to the urban local bodies in the state seem unlikely in the near future.In view of grim political scenario prevailing in Telangana and Seemandhra regions, it is learnt that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is in no hurry to hold local body elections and wants status quo to continue for a few more months.The chief minister held discussions on the issue with minister for municipal administration and urban development M Maheedhar Reddy on Tuesday and decided to put ULB polls on hold temporarily and continue with the rule by special officers.The separatists' agitation in Telangana and the Jagan factor in the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions are worrying the Congress the most. In Telangana, the ruling party is facing a rough weather what with the party dilly-dallying on the demand for creation of a separate state. In Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy has emerged as a major threat to Congress.According to sources, the Congress stands no chance whatsoever of making handsome electoral gains in Telangana and there is no clear hope of victory even in Andhra-Rayalaseema either. That may turn advantageous for the Telugu Desam in Andhra-Rayalaseema, while the Telangana Rashtra Samiti will ride the sentiment wave in Telangana.The government has already put off elections to ULBs twice though the term of elected councils ended in October last. Currently, the ULBs are under the rule of special officers.In all, there are 125 municipal bodies in the state which account for about 37-40 percent of the state's population. Except for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), most of these urban local bodies have not had an elected body since October last year following the expiry of the term of the previous elected bodies on October 29, 2010.But the government and officials is attributing the delay in conducting elections to delimitation of wards in some municipalities which have recently been upgraded to municipal corporations. The government also has to decide on providing 50 per cent reservation to women in ULBs where the number of wards is odd, making reservation of wards difficult.