By merging 27 ULBs into the GHMC, the government is attempting to replace this patchwork with a single planning canvas.
Published Dec 26, 2025 | 4:02 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 26, 2025 | 4:02 PM
File photo of Hyderabad. (Creative Commons)
Synopsis: The Telangana government’s decision to expand the territorial jurisdiction of the GHMC is based on the unmistakable political arithmetic of the next elections to the civic body. Beyond electoral arithmetic, the government argues that the expansion addresses a fundamental governance problem.
The Telangana government’s decision to expand the territorial jurisdiction of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) may, at first glance, appear to be a routine administrative exercise. However, beneath the bureaucratic jargon of zones, circles and wards lies the unmistakable political arithmetic of the next GHMC elections.
With the Government Order (GO) No. 292 issued on 24 December, the state approved the reorganisation of GHMC into 12 zones, 60 circles and 300 wards following the merger of 27 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
The city’s footprint has ballooned from about 650 sq km to over 2,000 sq km, while its population has crossed 1.34 crore, with projections brushing 1.7 crore.
Hyderabad is no longer merely sprawling outward — it is being stitched together under a single civic umbrella.
Ponnam Prabhakar, the minister in charge of Hyderabad, said that the delimitation of wards is intended to improve urban governance, adding that the exercise will ensure greater political representation for more areas in the city. “An increase in the number of wards means the corporators concerned will be able to identify problems quickly and address them,” he said.
For the Congress government, the move serves a dual purpose: Addressing long-standing governance bottlenecks in Hyderabad’s fast-growing periphery while simultaneously redrawing the electoral map ahead of the 2026 GHMC polls.
The carefully crafted political calculus is simple — more wards could potentially mean more opportunities to secure a majority. The recent Assembly elections demonstrated that the Congress remains weak within the existing GHMC limits.
Expanding the civic body from 150 to 300 wards, largely by absorbing semi-urban and newly urbanising areas, could tilt the scales. Outside the traditional GHMC core, the party hopes to capitalise on the goodwill earned in the gram panchayat elections.
If administrative logic forms the veneer, political logic hums beneath it. Expanding GHMC’s limits effectively dilutes the high-density urban core — where the BRS and AIMIM traditionally perform well — by incorporating peripheral areas that have recently shown greater electoral receptiveness to the Congress.
This is a tactic with historical precedent. A similar GHMC expansion in 2007, under the then Congress government, reshaped civic politics and paid electoral dividends.
The first elections to the expanded GHMC were held in November 2009. The Congress emerged as the single largest party and formed the civic government through a post-poll alliance with the AIMIM. Congress corporator Banda Karthika Reddy became Mayor, while AIMIM secured the Deputy Mayor’s post, giving the Congress control of the prestigious civic body ahead of crucial electoral battles.
However, the tide turned dramatically after the formation of Telangana in 2014. Riding a powerful wave of popular sentiment, the BRS swept the 2016 GHMC elections, winning 99 of the 150 seats.
A weakened Congress was reduced to just two seats — a performance that was repeated in the 2020 elections, underscoring its marginalisation in urban Hyderabad.
After returning to power in the 2023 Assembly elections, the Congress has steadily rebuilt its presence in the GHMC by attracting several BRS and BJP corporators, raising its tally to 24. The political coup came when Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi defected from the BRS and joined the Congress.
This reshaped the council’s numbers: the BRS slipped from 56 to 40, the BJP from 48 to 41, while AIMIM remained steady at 44. With AIMIM aligned with the Congress, the ruling party believes it is now riding a favourable political current.
Beyond electoral arithmetic, the government argues that the expansion addresses a fundamental governance problem. The earlier GHMC structure — six zones and 30 circles — had become unwieldy for a rapidly expanding metropolis, leading to delays in basic services such as garbage collection, road maintenance and building approvals.
The new structure significantly reduces the administrative load, with just four to six wards under each circle.
In theory, this is decentralisation in action — where governance is expected to move closer to the citizen. Smaller administrative units promise quicker decision-making, better supervision and improved accountability.
Peripheral areas such as Keesara, Boduppal, Medipally and Jawaharnagar, long trapped in a grey zone between municipalities and metropolitan agencies, will now gain direct access to GHMC’s administrative machinery, budgets and planning authority.
The timing of the move is also strategic. With the 2026–27 decennial Census approaching, the government is keen to ensure that Hyderabad enters the enumeration process with uniform boundaries, updated wards and clearly defined jurisdictional lines — avoiding the confusion that often follows fragmented urban governance.
For years, Hyderabad’s growth followed infrastructure rather than administration. Areas within the Outer Ring Road urbanised rapidly, but civic services lagged as smaller municipalities struggled with limited finances and manpower. Garbage piled up, roads remained unfinished, and residents paid urban taxes for what were effectively semi-urban services.
By merging 27 ULBs into the GHMC, the government is attempting to replace this patchwork with a single planning canvas. Integrated road networks, coordinated drainage systems and standardised service delivery now appear achievable rather than aspirational.
The expansion also aligns neatly with the state’s economic ambitions. Massive investment commitments announced at the Telangana Rising Global Summit — ranging from Global Capability Centres to the proposed Deep Tech Innovation City — demand metropolitan-scale planning. A fragmented city would have been a square peg in a round hole.
That said, the risks are real. Integration glitches are already surfacing, with residents in newly merged areas complaining of service disruptions and administrative confusion. For the Congress, the real challenge will be ensuring that the promise of better governance translates into visible, on-ground improvements — and quickly.
If garbage continues to pile up or approvals remain mired in bureaucratic overlaps, the expansion could turn into a double-edged sword. Voters are unforgiving when the rubber does not meet the road.
For now, Congress has made the opening gambit. If improved services follow structural reforms, the party can credibly claim that it has not merely redrawn boundaries, but also reshaped the relationship between the city and its citizens.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
