Hyderabad: Nearly two years after announcing an ambitious plan to expand the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation up to the Outer Ring Road and create a unified Hyderabad Greater City Corporation, the Congress govt has made a marked U-turn, opting for division rather than consolidation.Sources say the shift followed sustained pressure from ruling party MLAs, particularly from Rangareddy district, and from AIMIM, as the govt began ward delimitation and zone restructuring over the past two to three months.The original proposal envisioned merging municipalities, municipal corporations and gram panchayats within the ORR into a single mega civic body to ensure uniform and planned development for Hyderabad’s 1.30 crore population. The idea was to create one of the largest municipal corporations in the country, streamlining governance and urban planning under a single administrative structure.However, chief minister A Revanth Reddy has now moved towards carving out two additional corporations—Cyberabad and Malkajgiri—alongside a restructured GHMC, effectively abandoning the unified model.Several MLAs reportedly conveyed to the CM and senior Congress leaders that they would have limited influence in a large, consolidated corporation. Smaller corporations, they argued, would mean relatively junior officers, greater political accessibility and better leverage in administrative decisions.They also felt that leadership posts such as mayor and chairperson would be within reach of their supporters in smaller civic bodies — an unlikely prospect in a mega corporation.Concerns over taxation also emerged. Some legislators warned that expanding GHMC into peri-urban and rural pockets would lead to higher property taxes and civic levies, triggering public backlash and electoral consequences.Cong MLAs worriedOpposition to the merger was not confined to closed-door discussions. Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy openly objected to the proposed inclusion of his constituency into an expanded GHMC without consultation.Congress MLAs from Rangareddy district also expressed concern that the district would lose its distinct administrative identity in a vast unified corporation. Some held a meeting on how Rangareddy district did not have a single civic body within the ORR, and how it became insignificant in the extended GHMC.AIMIM, too, was wary of the original unification plan. The party reportedly indicated it would oppose any move that disturbed the existing GHMC structure. Even in the current bifurcation or trifurcation exercise, the AIMIM insisted that the Old City should neither be divided nor merged with any other corporation. AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi criticised the govt in the assembly, calling the delimitation and expansion process arbitrary and unilateral.Fear of higher taxesThe BRS also objected, first to the merger plan and now to the division. Quthbullapur MLA KP Vivekanand opposed unification, citing fears of higher taxes in areas that remain largely rural despite being within 50 to 60 km of the city. Medchal MLA Ch Malla Reddy earlier said in the assembly that smaller civic bodies in his region were merged without much thought.
