The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on two out of three seats of the Telangana Legislative Council which went to polls on February 27 has given a major boost to the party in the state. It has not only dealt a blow to the ruling Congress by wresting the Karimnagar-Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad graduates’ constituency but also bagged another seat by securing the support of teachers in the same region.
“My gratitude to the people of Telangana for their overwhelming support and blessing @BJP4Telangana in the MLC elections. My congratulations to the newly elected candidates. I am very proud of our party workers who are working very diligently among the people,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X on Thursday.
This win has not only increased the BJP’s presence in the Legislative Council but is also expected to infuse new enthusiasm into the party ahead of the local body elections. This is the second major victory for the BJP after it doubled its tally of Lok Sabha seats in the state to eight last year. The BJP’s strategy of declaring its candidates even before the announcement of the schedule for MLC elections and its aggressive campaign led by Union Minister for Coal and Mines and state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar paid rich dividends.
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Elections to three MLC seats from the Karimnagar-Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad graduates’ constituency, the Karimnagar-Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad teachers’ constituency, and the Warangal-Khammam Nalgonda teachers’ segment were held on February 27. Though the MLC elections are held on a non-party basis, the BJP announced its candidates for all three seats in January, much before the announcement of the poll schedule.
This was a clear change of strategy by the BJP, which was the last to announce its candidates for the November 2023 Assembly elections and May 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The polls provided an opportunity for the BJP to test its popularity, especially in Karimnagar-Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad where it had swept Lok Sabha polls and also performed well in the Assembly elections. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won the Karimnagar, Medak, Nizamabad and Adilabad seats. Seven out of its eight Assembly seats also came from the north Telangana.
The stakes were high for the Congress party in the Karimnagar-Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad graduates’ constituency as its senior leader and former minister Jeevan Reddy was elected from here in the previous election. The ruling party fielded Narender Reddy as its candidate against BJP’s Anji Reddy. With Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) not contesting the polls and Congress naming its candidate only for Karimnagar-Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad graduates’ constituency, it was a direct fight between the two national parties in the graduates’ constituency.
Unlike the BJP which conducted an intensive campaign at the grassroots level to mobilise support from graduates and teachers, the Congress campaign looked half-hearted. A section of the party leaders also found fault with the choice of the candidate. Two days before the election, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy addressed three public meetings in three districts in support of Narender Reddy. His remarks at these meetings indicated that he did not have much hope. Stating that the MLC election is not a referendum on the performance of the Congress government, Revanth Reddy remarked that irrespective of whether Narender Reddy wins or loses, the government will not suffer any loss.
The BJP’s win in the graduates’ constituency demonstrated the support it enjoys among graduates in 15 districts spanning across north Telangana. BJP’s Anji Reddy defeated Narender Reddy by a margin of 4,991 votes after the end of the second preference vote count. With no candidate securing the stipulated 50 per cent +1 of the valid votes in the first preference vote count, the counting of second preference votes was taken up. Anji Reddy polled 78,635 votes while Narender Reddy secured 73,644 votes.
BSP’s Prasanna Harikrishna stood third with 63,404 votes. In the elections based on a preferential voting system and through ballot papers, 2.52 lakh voters cast their votes.
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