HYDERABAD: The upcoming Jubilee Hills byelection poses a challenge for the BRS, which is determined to retain the seat and prove that it may be down but not out.
The party appears confident, having secured a majority of Assembly seats in Hyderabad in the 2023 elections, despite its poor performance at the state level, which cost it power. In the 2022 GHMC elections, the BRS won 44 out of 150 divisions and clinched the mayor and deputy mayor posts by allying with the AIMIM. However, after the Congress came to power in the state, several BRS corporators switched loyalties to the ruling party.
Now, the pink party — which lost the Cantonment Assembly Constituency in a by-election last year to the Congress — aims to reverse the narrative that it is on a losing streak. A victory in Jubilee Hills would reassert its political relevance. Party working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) is leading the charge, leveraging his reputation as a transformative leader during his tenure as minister for Municipal Administration, IT, and Industries under the BRS regime. Many credit Hyderabad’s infrastructure development to his initiatives, which, among others, were instrumental in the party’s past electoral successes.
Meanwhile, the ruling Congress is eager to capture Jubilee Hills. The grand old party, by drawing a blank in the GHMC area in the last Assembly elections, exposed its weakness in the city. After coming to power, the party however managed to wrest the Secunderabad Cantonment seat from the BRS and now wants to replicate that success, at all costs.
To bolster its campaign, the Congress has appointed three ministers to oversee the constituency, focusing on welfare scheme implementation and addressing public grievances. The party is keen to project an upward momentum, framing the by-election as a stepping stone to further gains.
The BRS, however, faces an uphill battle amid internal conflicts and mounting pressure from both the Congress and the BJP. The saffron party is positioning itself as a credible alternative to the ruling party. Party leaders admit that victory will not come easy — they will have to fight for every vote.
Adding to their challenges, the BRS must counter the Congress’s advantage as the ruling party with vast resources. As polling day nears, more leaders are expected to be deployed to break the BRS’s vice-like grip on the constituency.
BRS leaders wonder whether sympathy will play a role, given that the by-election was necessitated by the demise of their party’s sitting legislator Gopinath Maganti. The party must mobilise its resources effectively, but concerns linger as no senior leader has yet been entrusted with overseeing the campaign. Compounding their troubles, several local corporators have reportedly shifted allegiance to the Congress, further complicating the BRS’s path to victory.
In the ensuing political game of thrones, it remains to be seen who will finally win, vanquishing the other two.