Congress consolidates urban base in Telangana, wins 86 civic bodies

Revanth Reddy

• Congress wins 86 of 112 chairperson and mayoral posts in Telangana.
• BRS wins 18 chairperson posts, BJP 2, AIMIM 3 deputy posts
• Congress wins 5 of 7 mayoral posts in municipal corporations

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The Congress secured a decisive majority in Telangana’s municipal elections, winning 86 of the 112 chairperson and mayoral posts where elections were completed. The polls to elect municipal councillors were held on February 12, results were declared on February 14, and indirect elections to the posts of chairpersons, mayors, vice-chairpersons and deputy mayors were conducted on February 16. The State Election Commission postponed elections to top posts in 11 municipalities due to procedural and law and order issues.

In the final tally, the Congress and its allies won 86 chairperson/mayor posts and 84 deputy mayor/vice-chairperson positions. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) secured 18 chairperson posts and 14 deputy posts. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two chairperson/mayor posts and five deputy posts. Independents secured four chairperson and four deputy posts. The CPI won one mayor post, the AIFB won one chairperson and one vice-chairperson post, the CPM secured one vice-chairperson post, and AIMIM won three deputy mayor/vice-chairperson positions.

Across the seven municipal corporations in the state, the Congress won five mayoral posts. The BJP registered a victory in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation. The BRS did not secure control of any of the seven corporations. In Kothagudem, where the Congress and CPI contested separately, both parties won 22 corporator seats each, while the BRS was limited to eight seats.

The outcome marks a shift from the BRS’s earlier dominance in urban local bodies. In 2018, the BRS had won 88 Assembly seats and went on to secure a majority of civic bodies across the state. However, in the 2023 Assembly elections, the Congress came to power, following which it won eight of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in 2024. The BJP also won eight Lok Sabha seats, while the AIMIM retained one. The BRS did not win any Lok Sabha seat.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM also showed its influence in the urban local bodies as it won 22 wards in four municipal corporations and over 40 wards in 15 municipalities.

Subsequent by-elections further altered the political landscape. The Congress won the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly by-election and later secured the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat with a margin of over 25,000 votes. In village panchayat elections held toward the end of 2025, candidates supported by the Congress won approximately 70 per cent of the seats.

Elections to mandal parishads, zilla parishads and major municipal corporations, including Greater Hyderabad, are scheduled in the coming months.