BRS vows strong comeback despite Jubilee Hills by-poll defeat

KT Rama Rao told BRS cadres to begin groundwork for the coming GHMC elections, alleging Congress won Jubilee Hills through rigging and money power. Harish Rao and Talasani said the moral victory belonged to BRS and predicted major political changes in Telangana

Hyderabad: Declaring that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was battle-ready to win back every inch it lost, party working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday asked cadres to start the groundwork immediately for the forthcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.

Addressing a meeting of party leaders and functionaries at Telangana Bhavan, he sent a clear message to party cadre at the grassroots stating that the party was already making preparations for the GHMC elections. “We will win exactly where we lost,” he asserted.

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Rama Rao stated that Congress victory in Jubilee Hills was built on fake votes, rigging and money power. Alleging large-scale electoral malpractices by the Congress Party in the by-election, he said people were brought from Karnataka and that bogus voting was done. Rigging took place in areas like Shaikpet and Erragadda. Police were used as shields and money and liquor were distributed openly. Stating that the sarpanch and ZPTC elections were likely to be completed by December, he said the party would launch a massive membership enrolment drive after that. He directed party leaders in Jubilee Hills to build a 4,000-strong active cadre force, with 10 committed workers for each of the 407 polling booths in the constituency.

“Telangana Bhavan and all party offices will remain open 24×7 for workers. Whatever difficulty you face, the party leadership will stand with you like a family member,” he assured.

“This is not a moral victory for Congress. It is daylight robbery,” he said about the Jubilee Hills bypoll, promising the cadre harder work in the forthcoming corporation elections than what was put in during the assembly polls.

Technical win for Congress, moral victory for BRS, says Harish Rao

Senior leader T Harish Rao, speaking at the meeting, said there was no reason to feel dejected.

“In the Lok Sabha elections, we got only 18,000 votes in Jubilee Hills. In this by-election, we secured 75,000 votes. That itself is proof of the tireless work put in by every worker. Congress may have won technically, but the moral victory belongs to our candidate Maganti Sunitha,” he said, pointing out that the Congress, sensing it was losing minority support, had hurriedly made Mohammed Azharuddin a minister at the last minute, a move he described as a direct result of BRS pressure.

“Sometimes adharma wins temporarily, but the ultimate victory always belongs to dharma. We saw it in Dubbaka, we saw it in Huzurabad and we will see it again. Party president K Chandrashekhar Rao will return as Chief Minister very soon. None of those who troubled us will be spared,” Harish Rao said.

Revanth Reddy spent Rs 150 crore in Jubilee Hills, says Talasani

Former Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav claimed the Congress government had spent Rs 150 crore in the by-election purely to protect Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s chair.

“Power was blatantly misused and police interfered while money flowed like water. Yet the people have started calling the ‘Six Guarantees’ the ‘420 Guarantees’. The economy is in crisis. There is no money in the market, business is dead even during festival season. On the contrary, real estate and industry flourished in the BRS regime,” he said.

Predicting a massive political storm in two years that would wipe the Congress out from Telangana, he asked workers to immediately strengthen booth-level committees.