Telangana municipal polls: No clean sweep for Congress as BRS fights back, BJP becomes also-ran

Despite being in power and mounting an aggressive campaign, the Congress failed to replicate the BRS’s 2020 municipal sweep, with the opposition putting up a strong fight and preventing a landslide, reflecting growing public unease with the ruling party

Hyderabad: Despite the Congress being in power, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy himself campaigning in multiple districts and Ministers going all out with promises, goodies and freebies, the ruling party failed to match what the principal opposition party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, managed when it was in power in the municipal elections, results of which were declared on Friday.

Till 8 pm, as per the Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) website data on results in 2,996 wards, the Congress won 1,526 wards and the BRS 772 wards while the BJP was restricted to 320 wards. The AIMIM won 66 wards, independents won 180 and other registered parties with the SEC bagged 73 wards.

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In 2020, out of the 2,997 wards, the BRS had won 1,704 wards while the Congress got just 576 wards. Despite being in the opposition and the ruling Congress party’s alleged blatant misuse of money and muscle power this time, the BRS put up a much better performance, preventing the Congress from claiming a landslide victory in a strong indicator of the public mood against the government.

BJP fails to walk the talk

On the other hand, the BJP, which had projected itself as an alternative to both the Congress and the BRS, could muster just above 300 wards, barely 10 more than what it managed last time. And this, interestingly, was even after BJP national president Nitin Nabin and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis campaigned in the State. However, BJP State president N Ramchander Rao claimed that the party had emerged as the single largest party in six municipalities and that it would ‘capture’ power in Nizamabad and Karimnagar municipal corporations.

“The BJP, which had no ground in several places, will hoist its flag in such places,” Ramchander Rao claimed, however, admitting that the results in Mancherial, Ramagundam, Nalgonda and Nizamabad were a bit against the party expectations.

Overall, of the 116 municipalities, the Congress won 64, compared to the 2020 performance of 122 out of 130 by the BRS. While the BJP is yet to open its account this time, the BRS has won 13 municipalities so far. With a hung verdict in about 38 municipalities, the tallies are likely to differ by Saturday.

In the seven municipal corporations, the Congress was leading in three corporations and the BJP had an edge in Nizamabad and Karimnagar corporations. The CPI is likely to join hands with the BRS and rule Kothagudem Municipal Corporation.

CM’s prediction off the mark

Interestingly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s political predictions of a triangular contest proved to be wide off the mark, with BRS winning over 766 wards and losing by only narrow margins, ranging from 1 vote to 20 votes, in several ULBs, while the BJP could not repeat its 2020 performance, making the contest more between the Congress and the BRS.

All this came amidst widespread complaints of the Congress attempting to usurp power through manipulation, forced recounting and even kidnapping of winning candidates in many ULBs. In the eighth ward of Jogulamba Gadwal, BRS candidate Jayamma was first declared winner. However, Congress candidate Venkatamma insisted on recounting, and the officials announced that she had won by one vote.

Similarly, in the 12th ward of Vardhannapet Municipality of Warangal, BRS candidate was declared winner with a seven-vote majority. But after recounting, Congress candidate won by 13 votes. Alleging bias on part of election officials towards the ruling Congress, BRS leaders staged protests in several places. Tension prevailed at Jangaon after Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy attempted to kidnap an independent candidate, who had supported the BRS. A similar incident was reported in Parigi of Vikarabad where a winning independent candidate was taken away in a police vehicle, allegedly at the behest of Congress leaders.