BJP’s best-ever performance in Telangana
The BJP has doubled its tally in Telangana in the Lok Sabha polls to eight, just six months after Congress came to power in the state.
BJP has performed its best everin Telangana, which is seen as the party’s second gateway to south India after Karnataka.
Building on its impressive performance in the recent Assembly elections, the BJP made big inroads to win eight out of 17 Lok Sabha seats, almost reaching its target of 10 seats. The BJP candidates also finished runner-up in six other constituencies.
Congress suffered defeat in not only Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s home district Mahabubnagar but also Malkajgiri, from where Revanth Reddy was elected to Lok Sabha in the previous elections.
With the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) virtually wiped out in these elections, the BJP is likely to become more aggressive as the opposition party takes on the ruling Congress. Both the BJP and Congress gained at the cost of BRS which drew a blank. This is the worst-ever performance for the BRS since the party’s inception in 2001.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained the Hyderabad seat as its president Asaduddin Owaisi recorded his fifth consecutive victory.
BJP’s performance
BJP had won four seats in 2019 with a vote share of 19.5 percentand has now improved its vote share to 35.08 percent. This is a huge gain for the BJP, which got 13.90 percent votes in the November 2023 Assembly elections and won eight seats in the 119-member Assembly.
BJP not only retained the four seats won in 2019, not only retained them but also wrested four seats from BRS and Congress.
Expanding its presence, the BJP bagged Malkajgiri and Chevella seats, both adjoining Hyderabad, for the first time. It also clinched victories in Medak and Mahabubnagar, which it had previously won.
- Union Minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy retained Secunderabad by a margin of 49,944 votes over his nearest rival Danam Nagender of the Congress.
- BJP general secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar retained Karimnagar by a margin of 2,25,209 votes against his nearest rival V. Rajender Rao.
- The BJP also retained the Nizamabad seat, where the sitting MP D Arvind defeated Congress’ T Jeevan Reddy by 1.09 lakh votes.
- Adilabad was retained, where its candidate Godam Ganesh secured the victory by a margin of 90,652 votes against Athram Suguna of the Congress.
- Former minister Eatala Rajender, who was defeated in recent Assembly elections, won the Malkajgiri seat for BJP, defeating P Suneetha Mahender Reddy by a huge margin of over 3.91 lakh votes.
- Another key BJP leader M Raghunandan Rao, who too had suffered defeat in Assembly elections, won the Medak seat defeating Congress’ Neelam Madhu by a margin of 39,139 votes.
- Konda Vishweshwar Reddy of the BJP bagged the Chevella seat by a margin of over 1.72 lakh votes.
- BJP’s national vice-president D K Aruna won Mahabubnagar by a margin of over 4,000 votes against Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy of Congress.
The loss of the Medak seat is a huge blow for BRS as it is the home district of party chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who represents the Gajwel Assembly segment under the Medak constituency.
G Ranjith Reddy of the Congress finished runner-up. In 2019, Ranjith Reddy was elected as BRS candidate but he switched loyalties to Congress after he was denied re-nomination.
Losing in Mahabubnagar seat is a big setback for Congress as Mahabubnagar is the home district of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
The Congress, which bagged three Lok Sabha seats in 2019 with a 30.2 percent vote share, also increased its vote share to 40.10 percent. In Assembly elections held in November 2023, the Congress party won 64 seats in the 119-member Assembly, with a 39.40 percent vote share.
The BRS, which had won 39 seats with 37.35 percent vote share, suffered a massive loss as the vote share plummeted to 16.68 percent.
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It is good to gain new grounds, but equally important to hold on to what is already in the fold. a lesson for BJP in 2024