In a shot in the arm for the A Revanth Reddy-led government, the ruling Congress seemed to be heading for a sweep in the elections to 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations in Telangana, with the principal Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the BJP facing setbacks.
As the counting of ballot papers progressed Friday, the Congress was leading in 70 municipalities and four corporations by evening. The BRS was leading in 15 municipalities and the BJP in 1.
As many as 30 municipalities seemed to have thrown up a hung verdict, with both the Congress and the BRS now rallying the winning Independents to come to power there.
The Congress was leading in four corporations including Mancherial, Ramagundam, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar. In Kothagudem, the CPI was leading, even though it had not forged an alliance with the Congress. In its Karimnagar and Nizamabad strongholds, the BJP was ahead. The BRS was not leading in any corporation.
Out of the 2,866 wards whose results were declared, Congress candidates bagged 1,499 against the BRS’s 765, according to Telangana State Election Commission data. The BJP managed to win only 285 wards.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won from 58 seats while the CPI (M) got 13.
The elections were seen as a test for the Congress’s urban appeal and as a “mini-referendum” on its over two-year-old government which assumed office after the party clinched the Assembly elections in December 2023.
Revanth led the Congress’s campaign for the civic body polls, held on February 11, from the front. In their high-voltage electioneering, Revanth and his Cabinet colleagues relied on the welfare schemes implemented by their government as their key plank. “We focused on Hyderabad rising and development works,” a Congress insider said.
The Congress leaders also targeted the BRS leadership – especially the Kalvakuntla family of former CM K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR, the BRS chief. “We made sure that the message of KCR’s absence from the public scene is communicated well to the public,” the Congress insider said.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud told The Indian Express that the urban belts of the state have also stood by the Congress and “expressed happiness” with the development agenda of the Revanth Reddy government. “There is no one to compete with the Congress in the state,” he said, as Congress workers celebrated at Gandhi Bhavan, the party’s headquarters in Hyderabad. A Congress leader said, “We were expecting a sweep of 80 civic bodies. But we have outdone ourselves”.
The BRS claimed they were able to give a “tough fight” to the Congress. “In dozens of seats we have lost by a small margin,” a BRS leader said.
Addressing a press conference, BRS working president K T Rama Rao or KTR said his party has emerged as main opposition to the Congress in these polls, with the BJP lagging “far behind” it.
The BJP, which was relegated to the third position, said that while the party was not happy with the results, it was “able to make a dent in bipolar electorate”. “It seems, the Congress, BRS, AIMIM and Left parties worked together to make the BJP lose,” state BJP chief Ramachander Rao told The Indian Express.
The Congress is buoyed by the outcome of these civic body polls, even as decks are being cleared for the elections in the newly trifurcated core urban region of Hyderabad soon. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) and Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) will together have 300 wards, which are headed for polls later this year. “The Congress is going to sweep the mega GHMC elections too,” Mahesh Goud claimed.