Telangana results: Congress and BJP win 8 seats each, BRS loses from all

Will Congress be able take forward its winning streak from the 2023 Assembly Elections? Or will BJP make a dent in the grand old party's ambitions? Or will BRS make a comeback?

In the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies that were in contention in Telangana, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have won eight seats each.

BJP has been making inroads and challenging the dominance of Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BRS won nine seats, BJP, four and Congress, three. AIMIM won one seat.

BRS, which had hoped of making a comeback after facing a shock defeat in the 2023 Telangana Assembly Elections, has not managed to secure even one seat despite contesting from all. Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul won the party's lone seat from Hyderabad LS constituency.

Results in key constituencies

In Hyderabad, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi retained his seat over BJP's Madhavi Latha with a significant margin of over 3.38 lakh votes. It is a key urban center with a large Muslim population.

In Secunderabad constituency, BJP's G. Kishan Reddy won by a comfortable margin of 49,944 votes, securing his position in this crucial constituency that has a mix of urban and semi-urban voters.

In Karimnagar, BJP's Bandi Sanjay Kumar won with substantial margins 2.25 lakh votes. Karimnagar is politically significant as it reflects the sentiments of northern Telangana.

In Nizamabad, BJP's Arvind Dharmapuri secured a decisive second-time win, underscoring his strong support base in Nizamabad. He won by a margin of 1.09 lakh.

In Nalgonda, Kunduru Raghuveer won with a massive margin of 5.37 lakh. This constituency is crucial for both regional and national politics due to its significant voter base.

BRS' decline and BJP's emergence

Until the 2023 Assembly Elections in Telangana, when a resurgent Congress trumped BRS to win the polls, the latter had been dominant in all forms of elections (2018 Assembly elections, 2019 General Elections, GHMC elections), riding on the popularity of ex-Chief Minister and BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao.

However, in the last few years, the BJP has steadily increased its vote share in Telangana -- at the cost of BRS --, evidenced by their performance in the 2019 General Elections, where they won 4 seats.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the party has been focusing on campaigns highlighting alleged corruption by BRS, national issues and other subjects. K Kavitha, KCR's daughter and former MLC from Nizamabad, was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges.

Coupled with that, frequent visits by top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah has also bolstered the party’s visibility and support.

Positioning itself as a viable alternative to BRS and Congress, the BJP has been capitalising on any anti-incumbency sentiments and political discontent.

What exit polls had said

This is also evidenced in the results of various exit polls, which predict that the BJP  will win 7-10 seats while the INDIA bloc will win 5-8 seats, while others are likely to win 3-5 seats.

Meanwhile Congress will be hoping that it can capitalise on the popularity of current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, under whose leadership the party trumped BRS in last Assembly Elections. Reddy has been accusing Telangana BJP of attempting to polarise Muslim votes to benefit AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.