HYDERABAD: The results of elections to the urban local bodies across the state have underlined the Congress’s return as the principal force in urban Telangana, with the ruling party recording a performance comparable to the then TRS (now BRS) sweep a decade ago.
Overall, the results marked a decisive urban consolidation by the Congress, a holding operation for the BRS amid erosion of its base, and incremental BJP gains that also exposed the saffron party’s organisational limitations at the grassroots.
Winning a clear majority of urban local bodies, the Congress established dominance across much of the state, particularly in the southern districts.
Of the 116 municipalities and seven corporations, the ruling Congress secured absolute majorities in over 90 municipalities and four corporations, along with a strong vote share of over 45% across most urban bodies. Party leaders said the outcome reflected public approval of the government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Senior leaders, including ministers, MPs, MLAs and the TPCC leadership, are now focusing on consolidating numbers to secure mayoral and chairperson posts, especially in hung bodies.
The Congress surge was most pronounced in South Telangana, covering Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgonda and parts of Medak. In North Telangana, however, the picture was more mixed, with the BRS and the BJP retaining or improving their presence in several pockets.
BRS single largest party in a dozen municipalities
For the BRS, the results were just enough to preserve a measure of political respectability after a difficult phase. The party lost control of nearly 90% of the urban bodies it had dominated for the past ten years, but emerged as the single largest party in around 10–12 municipalities, where it still has prospects of securing chairperson posts. In the seven corporations, the BRS was pushed largely to third place, with the BJP overtaking it in several divisions, especially in the north.
Despite an extensive campaign by leaders such as K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao, the party’s losses were substantial. Relief came from Sircilla municipality and a few urban bodies in the erstwhile Medak district, which are represented in the Assembly by K Chandrasekhar Rao and T Harish Rao. Even so, the broader trend points to the BRS steadily ceding urban ground to the BJP.
The BJP, while falling short of its own expectations, posted a noticeable improvement in vote share and representation. It emerged as the single largest party in Nizamabad and Karimnagar corporations, and in municipalities such as Narayanapet, Raikal and Adilabad. The party won around 70 corporator seats across corporations and roughly 350–360 councillor posts in municipalities. BJP leaders said the gains reflected growing urban support, though they acknowledged that weak ground-level organisation and limited booth-level workers constrained a larger breakthrough.
AIMIM registered a reduced but still visible presence, winning divisions in Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda corporations, and 47 wards across several municipalities. Party sources admitted that its overall numbers were lower than in the previous cycle.
An exception to the broader trend was Kothagudem corporation, where the CPI topped the tally with 26 of 60 seats, ahead of the Congress with 22. The result reaffirmed the Left party’s local strength, despite its alliance with the Congress in Assembly and parliamentary elections.
In Vaddepalli municipality in Gadwal district, the All India Forward Bloc won eight of ten wards. It may be recalled that former MLC and Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha reportedly fielded her supporters on AIFB tickets. However, AIFB leaders deny any formal link with Telangana Jagruthi. Political observers noted that such contests may have marginally dented the BRS vote share in a few areas.