The ruling Congress wrested the Jubilee Hills seat from the BRS with a massive victory as its candidate, Naveen Yadav, won with a thumping majority polling 24,729 votes in the bypoll, while the BJP remained the distant third performing dismally.
The huge victory consolidated Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s position within the party and government after the BRS touted the bypoll as a referendum on the Congress government’s performance. While the BRS lost another bypoll in Hyderabad after the assembly debacle of 2023 and the Lok Sabha elections, there were murmurs of dissent within the BJP camp after the party’s disastrous performance in the bypoll.
The Congress candidate polled a total of 98,988 votes against 74,259 votes of BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha, while BJP candidate Lanka Deepak Reddy got a paltry 17,061 votes.
Right from the counting of postal ballots, Naveen Yadav was ahead. By the fifth round, as the Congress candidate was leading by 12,859 votes, celebrations began at the Congress headquarters at Gandhi Bhavan.
CM Reddy was the architect of the party’s victory in the constituency that has both posh areas and slums with considerable Backward Classes (BC) and Muslim votes. The Congress tie-up with the AIMIM saw both parties campaigning jointly, particularly in minority-dominated areas.
The chief minister was able to convince the party to nominate Naveen Yadav, a BC candidate instead of giving Mohammad Azharuddin another chance. He campaigned tirelessly in the run-up to the poll despite coming under fierce criticism for his communal overtones.
The BRS, which ran an excellent social media campaign, far better than on the ground, said it had held the Congress government accountable. Party’s working president KT Rama Rao said, “No need for our workers to feel disappointed. We’ve succeeded in holding the government accountable. Let’s gear up for local elections. Special thanks to our social media warriors working voluntarily for KCR. Nationally, Congress remains in a poor state.”
He also took a dig at the BJP, saying, “In the state, it is only the BRS that’s fighting against the Congress government. This has become clear once again with this by-election.”
All is clearly not well within the Telangana BJP. While Lanka Deepak Reddy, who lost the election once again, blamed the cash distribution by his rivals, party MP Arvind Dharmapuri did not mince his words when he warned, “The result in Jubilee Hills is depressing for all BJP Karyakartas. A seat we could have won, or at least come close to second, we are performing dismally. Why is the entire nation voting one way and Telangana the other? BRS is finished and it’s clear Telangana is moving to BJP versus Congress now. If the BJP doesn’t plan and make a concrete strategy, Congress will consolidate further in the next Assembly elections.”