Hyderabad, June 8: The big jump in BJP’s tally of Lok Sabha seats in Telangana has sent alarm bells ringing in ruling Congress and other secular-minded forces.
The saffron party not only doubled its Lok Sabha seats to eight but also increased its vote share to 35.08 percent from 13.90 percent secured by it in Assembly elections held in November 2023.
The BJP had won eight seats in 119-member Assembly but the statistics of Lok Sabha elections show that the party increased its votes in almost all Assembly segments. The BJP secured a majority in 46 Assembly segments and buoyed by this its leaders have started claiming that the party will come to power in the state whenever next Assembly elections are held.
Putting up its best-ever performance, BJP also scored a majority in 24 segments held by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The saffron party also secured a majority in 15 of the 64 segments won by Congress in recent elections.
In 2019, the BJP, with 19.5 percent vote share, had won four seats – Secunderabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad. It had increased its tally to four from just one. This time, the BJP not only retained these seats but also bagged Medak, Mahabubnagar, Malkajgiri and Chevella seats.
All these constituencies have Muslims in significant numbers but polarisation of Hindu votes and transfer of BRS votes is believed to have helped BJP double its tally.
The BRS, which suffered its worst-ever defeat since its inception in 2001, drew a blank. It failed to retain a single out of nine Lok Sabha seats it had won in 2019.
BRS candidates forfeited deposits in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Zaheerabad, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, and Mahbubnagar constituencies.
Both Congress and its new friend All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have accused BRS of helping BJP win. There are allegations that BRS leaders and workers in several constituencies appealed to their voters to vote for BJP candidates to spoil the chances of ruling Congress party.
The BJP candidates also secured second place in seven other constituencies. They finished third only in Khammam and Mahabubabad constituencies.
In a disturbing trend, the BJP consolidated its position in Greater Hyderabad by winning Malkajgiri and Chevella seats. The Congress failed to retain Malkajgiri while BRS failed to retain Chevella.
The BJP now holds three out of four Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana capital. While retaining the seats in north Telangana, the saffron party has expanded its base to south Telangana.
In Mahabubnagar, the home district of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, BJP candidate D.K. Aruna won by a narrow margin of 4,500 votes.
In Medak, a BRS stronghold and the home district of former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, M. Raghunandan Rao was elected by a margin of over 39,000 votes.
In the remaining six constituencies, the BJP won by a huge margin. Interestingly, four of the BJP candidates including two sitting MPs were defeated in recent Assembly elections.
The Congress party, which also improved its tally of seats to eight from three in 2019, could not stop BJP from expanding.
The Congress also improved its vote share to 40.10 percent from 30.2 percent in 2019 and 39.40 percent in recent Assembly elections.
While Muslims overwhelmingly voted for Congress, the ruling party failed to secure sizable votes from the majority community. It is being seen as the failure of Congress leaders, who only relied on the support of minorities.
The BRS, which had won 39 Assembly seats with 37.35 percent vote share in November 2023 polls, suffered its worst-ever defeat to draw a blank. Its vote share plummeted to 16.68 percent.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy alleged that BRS transferred its votes to BJP, which helped the saffron party increase its seats and vote share.
Government advisor and senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir alleged that BRS’ secret understanding with the BJP resulted in the saffron party’s victory on eight seats.
He attributed Congress’ win of eight seats to the support from minorities.
United Muslim Forum, which had announced support to Congress in 16 constituencies and AIMIM in Hyderabad, voiced concern over the rise of communal forces in Telangana and urged the secular forces to evolve a strategy to contain this. The Forum questioned the role of BRS leadership in the increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats of BJP. It also urged the Congress government to do self-introspection.
