Hyderabad: After wresting two crucial assembly seats from main opposition BRS in the bypolls, the ruling Congress continued its winning streak in the Telangana panchayat polls, securing about 60 per cent of sarpanch posts in the state.
Congress-backed candidates won in 7,527 gram panchayats. K Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS came in second, but bagged an impressive 3,511 sarpanch seats out of the total 12,702 that went to polls across the state. The BJP came a distant third, winning 710 segments.
The panchayat polls were held on 11, 14 and 17 December, with counting on the same days. These rural local body polls are not fought on party symbols, candidates on the ground are identified and backed by political parties.
Telangana BJP chief N Ramachander Rao told ThePrint his party had registered a 300 per cent jump compared to the 165 panchayats it won in the previous polls held in 2019. Dr K Laxman was then party unit chief.
“This time, we have contested in about 8,000 of the 12,700-odd seats, in fact fighting for the first time in many villages. We won over 700 seats, came second in several places, having lost the seat by a few votes in some panchayats,” Rao said, claiming more support in districts like Mahabubabad, Janagaon, Yadadri, Nalgonda.
However, at an event to felicitate the elected sarpanches, upa-sarpanches Thursday, Rao said that nearly 1,000 sarpanches, 1,200 upa-sarpanches, and over 10,000 ward members have won on behalf of the BJP. “These rural victories are a strong answer to critics who claim that the BJP is limited only to urban areas.”
The BJP performed well in north Telangana, especially in assembly segments like Adilabad, Mudhole, Nirmal, Sirpur. Seven of its eight MLAs elected to the assembly in 2023 are from north Telangana.
The party won 89 sarpanch seats under Mudhole constituency, pushing the ruling Congress to a second spot with 86, out of a total 181.
Though not a very handsome performance overall compared to Congress and BRS, the BJP’s gains, compared with its own show in 2019, has come as a face-saver for Rao and his Telangana unit, which has come under serious scrutiny of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At a breakfast meeting with the party’s Telangana MPs in New Delhi last week, the PM, it is learnt, snapped a few times. “You are not even playing the role of the Opposition,” Modi told them, according to persons present at the meeting.
“How much more will you ruin the BJP in Telangana?” Modi asked as he sought to compare the state unit’s performance with the Gujarat unit.
“In 1984, we won two seats. Where are we in Gujarat and where in Telangana?” the PM remarked.
Founded in 1980, the BJP had won two seats in the first Lok Sabha election it contested in 1984—Mehsana in Gujarat and Hanamakonda in Andhra Pradesh (in Telangana today).
Nevertheless, Rao claimed the “BJP is shining in Telangana, from villages to the state level”.
“This phenomenal rise in panchayat polls proves that BJP is the fastest growing political force in Telangana, with strong grassroots acceptance and expanding public trust,” added the former MLC who was appointed Telangana BJP chief in July.
Also Read: Why PM Modi is so upset with Telangana BJP leaders
Positive referendum on my govt, says Revanth
Addressing the media Thursday evening, as the final results of panchayat polls came out, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy claimed a 66 per cent strike rate, as he added the 808 successful Congress rebel candidates to the party’s tally of 7,527, taking the total to 8,335.
Revanth called the results a referendum on his government’s performance over the last two years. He attributed the success to the welfare schemes like fine rice supply, free power, Rs 500 gas cylinders, Indiramma housing, interest-free loans to women self help groups.
Referring to BRS leader KT Rama Rao’s remark that despite being in power and the CM touring the districts, the Congress could only manage to win only about 50 percent of panchayats, the Revanth said that the BRS has been tasting only defeats in every election since KTR took over as the party’s working president.
Though elections were notified for 12,728 gram panchayats, polls were held for 12,702. Elections could not be held in the remaining 26 due to a boycott in one, court stay in six, and reservation issues in 19 gram panchayats.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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