New Delhi:
Lauding its “astounding” performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, where it has made big gains, as a “moral victory”, the BJP on Friday said it has emerged as the “only alternative” to the ruling TRS in Telangana.
BJP leaders hailed the party’s show as it won 46 seats, against only four it had earlier in the corporation, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah thanking people for reposing faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “politics of development.” The election was held in 150 wards, and results for 146 wards were announced by late Friday evening. The ruling TRS’s tally fell below the majority mark as it won 56 seats and the AIMIM 52.
The BJP believes that it has now emerged as the main challenger to the TRS, replacing the Congress, which won only two wards. Shah, who had campaigned for the polls, tweeted, “Gratitude to the people of Telangana for reposing faith in PM @NarendraModi led BJP’s Politics of Development. Congratulations to Shri @JPNadda ji and Shri @bandisanjay_bjp for BJP’s astounding performance in GHMC. I applaud the hard work of our karyakartas of @BJP4Telangana.” The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS had swept the elections four years ago, winning 99 of the 150 wards.
The BJP’s performance has confirmed the trend that it is replacing the Congress as the main challenger to the TRS, BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav said. Yadav was the BJP’s in-charge for the polls. The saffron party had won four seats in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and then dealt a surprise defeat to the ruling party in Assembly bypoll in Dubbaka.
“The results are very encouraging and a moral booster for the BJP, and in a way, it is a moral victory of the party. The results reaffirms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and his model of good governance has acceptability across regions,” Yadav told PTI. While the TRS had fielded candidates in all 150 wards in the election, the BJP put up nominees in 149. The Congress, AIMIM and the TDP fielded candidates in 146, 51 and 106 wards respectively.
Asked how he sees the local elections results in the context of the Telangana assembly polls in 2022, Yadav said, “The BJP has emerged as the only alternative and main challenger to the ruling TRS in the state.” He said the party’s performance also shows that people have given their mandate against dynasty politics and corrupt practices of the TRS. Responsibilities given to the BJP will be carried out by the party with its best abilities, Yadav added. BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh tweeted, “Thank You BHAGYANAGAR. @BJP4Telangana will give every bit & work every second to repay with gratitude the blessings you have showered. We have moved the mountain. We will replace it too.” Several BJP leaders have demanded that Hyderabad be named “Bhagyanagar” .
The BJP had invested its full energy in the elections by appointing one of its key electoral managers, Yadav, who had successfully handled the party’s campaign in the Bihar assembly polls. The BJP also ran a high octane campaign with rallies and road shows by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
