The stage is set for the election of mayor and deputy mayor of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Tuesday. The two top posts fell vacant after Banda Karthika Reddy and Jaffer Hussain resigned as mayor and deputy mayor respectively a couple of weeks ago. The election would be held at the council hall of the GHMC headquarters at 11 am.

First, the mayor's election would be held which would be followed by the polls for the deputy mayor. In the voice-vote election, 216 voters, including 150 elected corporators and 66 ex-officio members like MLAs, MLCs and MPs in the Greater Hyderabad, would exercise their franchise. Of the total voters, Congress has 93 members, including 52 elected corporators, MIM has 53 along with 43 elected corporators and Telugu Desam Party has the strength of 50, including 45 corporators.

The State Election Commission (SEC) has appointed Neerabh Kumar Prasad, managing director of AP Housing Corporation, as the election observer and Hyderabad district collector Natarajan Gulzar would preside over the special meeting and conduct the election. The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and Congress, which have an alliance, would announce the name of their candidates for mayor and deputy mayor posts a few hours before the election. As part of the agreement, the mayor post would go to the MIM and deputy mayor to the Congress.

The MIM is reportedly considering the names of former mayor and Hussaini Alam corporator Zulfeqar Ali, former deputy mayor Jaffer Hussain and a few others like Mohsin Balala, corporator from Pathergatti, for the mayor post. The MIM candidate would be in the top post for the next two years as per the agreement between the Congress and MIM. The last one year of the five-year term would again go to the Congress candidate.

Meanwhile, the Congress has reportedly decided to give the deputy mayor post to a backward class corporator from peripheral areas of the city. The Congress is reportedly considering the names of Hafeezpet corporator V Jagadishwar Goud, Kukatpally corporator G Vengal Rao and Old Bowenpally corporator and PRP lone corporator M Narsimha Yadav. If the party wants to consider other persons, Golnaka corporator and GHMC floor leader Kaleru Venkatesh and others are in the race.