- Congress leads in 79 municipalities statewide
- No clear majority in eight municipalities
- Congress wins 1,536 out of 2,988 wards
- Urban results seen as test of state government
Telangana municipal elections: As the counting of votes in the municipal elections in Telangana progressed on Friday, the direction of the state’s politics appeared to become clear. According to trends and declared results received till night, Congress was leading in 79 municipalities and four municipal corporations. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was ahead in 25 municipalities, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to secure a lead in four municipalities.
In eight municipalities, no party has secured a clear majority. In these places, a hung situation is emerging, where both Congress and BRS are trying to bring independent councillors to their side.
Talking about municipal corporations, Congress was leading in Mancherial, Ramagundam, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar. In Kothagudem, the Communist Party of India (CPI) was maintaining a lead, although it has not formed any formal alliance with Congress. BJP was ahead in its traditional strongholds Karimnagar and Nizamabad. BRS could not secure a lead in any municipal corporation.
According to the data of the Telangana State Election Commission, out of the 2,988 wards declared, Congress won 1,536 seats. BRS secured 779 and BJP succeeded in 333 wards. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 70 and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) won 13 seats.
These elections were seen as a test of Congress’s urban acceptability and as public opinion on its government after assuming power in December 2023. In the polling held on February 11, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy himself took charge of the campaign. In its election campaign, the party made the state government’s welfare schemes and development works the main issues. Within Congress, the message was also prominently highlighted that former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is not seen active in public life.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Mahesh Kumar Goud said that urban voters have also expressed trust in Congress’s development agenda. At the party headquarters in Hyderabad, workers expressed enthusiasm over the results.
On the other hand, BRS claimed that it gave a tough fight to Congress and faced defeat by a very small margin on many seats. Party working president K. T. Rama Rao said that in these elections his party has emerged as the main opposition and BJP has remained far behind them.
BJP, which remained in third place, expressed dissatisfaction over the results and said that it registered its presence in a bipolar contest. The state unit leadership alleged that Congress, BRS, AIMIM and the Left parties together made a strategy to harm BJP.
Encouraged by these results, Congress has now started preparing for the elections to be held in the newly reorganised urban area of Hyderabad. In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation and Cyberabad Municipal Corporation — in all three, voting is proposed on a total of 300 wards this year. The Congress leadership claims that in the upcoming elections as well, the party will secure a lead.
Utkarsh works as a Sub-Editor at 1Tak News. Technology and gadgets are his main beats, and he also tracks automobiles. A graduate of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, he began his journalism career in 2023 and has built experience across digital media platforms like 1Tak. Besides technology, he also has considerable experience covering national affairs, politics, research, and international news.