HYDERABAD: Though Rahul Gandhi claims that the Congress managed “to deflate” the BJP in Telangana, the saffron party achieved significant progress both in terms of seat tally and vote share in the just-concluded Assembly elections.
The party has not only doubled its vote share from 6.98 per cent in the 2018 elections to an impressive 13.9 per cent now, but it has also substantially increased its seat tally from one to eight.
This achievement is noteworthy considering the BJP contested in only 111 seats, as opposed to the Congress, which contested in 118, and BRS in all 119 constituencies, and despite the departure of prominent leaders like K Vivek Venkataswamy, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, Vijayashanthi and Yennam Srinivas Reddy just before the elections.
Also, the BJP has lagged behind the BRS and Congress in campaigning for their candidates in the run-up to the elections. It relied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image as there were no major poll promises like the ones made by the rival partie.
After the 2018 Assembly elections, there was a shift in voting patterns in the state in favour of the BJP. It was evident in the saffron party’s performance in the subsequent elections, winning two bypolls and exerting pressure on the BRS and Congress in the Munugode byelection.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP achieved success in four Lok Sabha seats with an impressive vote share of 19.45 per cent.
Looking ahead, if the current trend continues, the BJP is poised to increase its vote share in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are likely to be held in around six months.
But it remains to be seen how the party would perform in Lok Sabha polls as the electoral dynamics have changed in the state after the Assembly elections.