Hyderabad: January 3, Posted on 5:25 AM IST
The Telangana Government has stepped up preparations to conduct long-pending municipal elections, with strong indications that polling will be held in February, sources said. The move is aimed at clearing local body polls and unlocking crucial central funding.
According to sources, the government has given a green signal to the Telangana State Election Commission to announce the election schedule either before or immediately after Sankranti. The formal notification is expected to follow soon after, paving the way for completion of the election process by the second or third week of February.
Sources indicated that the poll schedule could be announced on January 11 or January 20. The Election Commission has already released the draft voters’ list, signalling that groundwork for the elections is largely in place.
Officials said the urgency is closely linked to pending central grants under the 15th Finance Commission. Nearly ₹500 crore in funds remains unreleased, as the Centre requires elected local bodies to be in place before disbursal. Completing municipal elections has therefore become a priority to ensure financial support for urban local bodies.
The tenure of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation governing body is set to end on February 10. After this, the government is reportedly considering a major civic reorganisation by dividing GHMC into three corporations. The proposed plan involves reallocating around 300 wards, publishing a revised voters’ list, and holding elections to the new corporations in May or June.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is scheduled to travel abroad later this month to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos from January 19 to 23. He is expected to depart on January 17 or 18 and return to Hyderabad on February 1, following which he is slated to visit Jadcherla on February 3 to lay the foundation stone for the Triple IT (IIIT) project.
Officials said the Chief Minister plans extensive district tours thereafter, focusing on rural areas not visited in the last two years. With municipal elections approaching and civic restructuring under consideration, the government appears to be aligning political, financial, and development priorities to strengthen grassroots governance and accelerate stalled projects.
Mohammed Naseer Giyas is a multi-media and bilingual journalist with over 20 years of experience across print, digital, and television media. Founder of Raftaar-e-Deccan, he is an alumnus of IVLP, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and ICFJ, and has worked with leading English and Urdu news organisations.
