Fourth consecutive win for Congress since 2023

Hyderabad

The Congress has continued its electoral winning streak in Telangana for the fourth consecutive time in the past two years, reinforcing its growing political dominance since it wrested power from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the 2023 Assembly elections.

The latest victory in the municipal polls adds to its successes in the Assembly, Parliament and Panchayat elections, apart from two bypoll wins in constituencies vacated, following the untimely demise of sitting BRS MLAs.

From the Assembly elections to the Lok Sabha polls, followed by Panchayat elections and now, the urban local body verdict, the Congress has steadily consolidated its position across rural and urban Telangana.

While the party did not register a sweep of the scale achieved by BRS in the 2020 municipal elections, when the then ruling party won over 90% of the seats, the present outcome assumes greater significance as Congress had to counter the two strong Opposition forces, BRS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Winning between 65% and 70% of the seats, the Congress will not slip into complacency, the party leaders believe, and the presence of strong Opposition parties will serve as a constant reality check, preventing organisational lethargy that often follows landslide victories.

The win did not come easily, but was the result of a disciplined electoral strategy combined with visible governance delivery. The verdict is being widely interpreted as an endorsement of the administrative approach of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, as well as a signal of renewed unity within the Congress.

Although Mr. Revanth Reddy led the campaign by setting the overall narrative in public meetings held days before polling, it was the decentralised approach, granting ministers and MLAs considerable autonomy while fixing clear responsibility that proved decisive.

The Chief Minister is credited with deftly diverting campaign narratives, preventing the Opposition from cornering the party on sensitive urban administrative issues. By steering the discourse toward broader political themes, he ensured that the Opposition remained distracted from raising questions that could have resonated more sharply with urban voters.

Significantly, major urban centres such as Hyderabad, Warangal, and Khammam, did not go to the polls this time. Despite this, elections held across nearly 81 Assembly constituencies saw Congress emerge victorious in 68 segments, reflecting widespread support cutting across regions, according to party leaders. Congress candidates and rebels together won 8,335 panchayats, about 66%, a few months ago. The party continued its similar winning streak in the urban local body elections.