BJP’s massive surge in the recent Hyderabad polls sent shock waves to Telangana Rashtra Samithi party. The campaigning that was done by the Bhartiya Janata Party was carried on a massive scale. Usually, it is not done so aggressively for a local elections.
The results of the polls show that Bhartiya Janata Party scored 48 wards leaving Asauddin Owaisi of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party behind with 44 wards. The Congress was badly hit with only two wards. In the previous election, the TRS scored 99 seats, the AIMIM 44 and the BJP 4.
These local elections proved that the TRS party headed by the CM KCR saw an overall decline by 40 percent and a rise for BJP in comparison to 2016 elections. The BJP made big gains at the cost of the ruling party in a region where it was almost non-existent so far. For the BJP, these results mark a giant leap in their plans for the 2023 Telangana election, which they say will be a straight fight between the TRS and the BJP, with the Congress hardly a player.
“The result is not what we expected. We fell short by 20-25 seats than our expectations. 10-12 seats saw a margin of less than 200 votes. There’s nothing to be disappointed, we will be single largest party,” said Telangana minister KT Rama Rao or KTR, the Chief Minister’s son.
BJP President JP Nadda said, “The people of Hyderabad have made it clear what will be the results of the Telangana assembly elections (2023). I can say with confidence that people of Telangana have decided to say goodbye to the corrupt KCR government.”
A deeply polarising campaign this time by most parties focused more on Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and whether Hyderabad wants its name changed to Bhagyanagar than civic matters like roads, sanitation and water supply.
The BJP raised the stakes in the civic polls after its victory in the recent by-election to the Dubbak assembly constituency. The party flew in national leaders like Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Yogi Adityanath, Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani, hoping to convince Hyderabad that a change was needed, if not now then certainly in the 2023 state polls.
The BJP’s Tejasvi Surya, the Bangalore South MP, was widely criticised for his provocative remarks while taking on the TRS and Asaduddin Owaisi.
BJP’s Telangana president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar controversially said his party would conduct a “surgical strike” in the old city, if necessary, to send away the Rohingya and Pakistanis.
KTR, who led the TRS campaign, sought to strike an emotional chord with the people, appealing to them to “save the city from divisive forces”, hinting at the BJP.