Narrow 2% swing helps Congress win Telangana polls; BRS sees 10% drop in vote share

Hyderabad: A slim two per cent shift in votes toward the Congress led to K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS losing power to the grand old party in the assembly polls.

According to the Election Commission's data, the Congress secured victory by claiming 64 seats in the 119-member assembly, attaining a 39.40% vote share, surpassing BRS, which won 39 segments with a 37.35% vote share. The BRS witnessed a drop in its vote share by over 10%, declining from 47% in the 2018 assembly elections, while the Congress gained slightly more than what the BRS lost, amounting to an 11% increase. In 2018, the BRS secured a significant 88 seats, whereas the Congress managed to win only 19 segments, garnering 28.4% of the votes.

The BJP, initially emerging as a primary challenger to the BRS after winning a few by-polls and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, ultimately doubled its vote share and improved its tally to eight seats. In the 2018 polls, the saffron party secured just one seat with a seven per cent vote share. Krishna Sagar Rao, BJP's chief spokesperson, stated that the party believes it gained votes and seats due to its promises of appointing a BC leader as Chief Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to forming a committee on SC categorisation.

The BJP leader expressed the opinion that Congress could have gained more if there hadn't been an aggressive campaign by the BJP on these two issues. Political analyst and senior journalist Telakapalli Ravi noted that the BJP successfully diverted the vote share of BRS in its favor. According to some observers, the Congress gained ground by attracting votes from Telugu Desam Party sympathisers after the TDP opted out of the race due to its own reasons.

The TDP secured 3.5% of the votes and two seats in the 2018 assembly elections. The AIMIM party led by Asaduddin Owaisi retained its seat tally while almost maintaining its vote share. The Hyderabad-centric party secured seven seats, obtaining 2.22% of the votes compared to 2.7% in 2018. The elections for the Telangana assembly were conducted on November 30, and the vote counting was done on December