Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had declared that the Congress could win 90 out of 116 urban local bodies, and his prediction came true. The Congress party won 85 municipalities and five municipal corporations, consolidating its grip over urban local bodies in the state.
The ruling party leveraged its dominant position and took advantage of Congress rebels, independents, ex officio votes of its MLAs, MPs and post-poll alliances with CPI and AIMIM. The party bagged five out of seven municipal corporations, while the BJP won the Karimnagar corporation. Congress has agreed to share the tenure with CPI in the Kothagudem corporation.
Cross-party alliances and wooing of independents played a key role in Congress bagging the hung municipalities. The Congress party won the Nizamabad corporation with the help of AIMIM. Congress gave chairmanships to three independents, as their support was crucial to win those ULBs. The party also won two ULBs with the support of ex officio votes.
Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) won 17 municipalities and could not win a single corporation. Though the party thought of helping Congress to bag the Karimnagar corporation, it backed off at the last minute and ensured the BJP’s first-ever victory in a municipal corporation. Besides the Karimnagar corporation, the BJP won the Narayanpet municipality.
BJP could not capture two corporations as they had initially hoped. But winning the Karimnagar corporation in such tough competition itself is considered a major victory for the party. This win has helped union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar cement his position as the most visible leader in the party.
AIMIM won 70 wards this time, against 82 in 2020. However, the party capitalised on the state-wide spread of its seats. It could get one deputy mayor and two vice-chairperson positions. The CPI won its first-ever mayoral position in Telangana. While CPI candidate Mood Ganesh would be the mayor for the first time in Telangana, the second half of the term would go to a Congress candidate.
These results have helped CM Revanth Reddy consolidate his position in the Congress party. Before these polls, there were some rumours of intra-party rivalry, though not on the Karnataka level. This victory could change that equation.
Because of this perceived weakness, the BRS and BJP had attacked Revanth Reddy’s government every day from all sides. Government schemes and programmes were vigorously questioned by the opposition parties. For instance, the River Musi redevelopment project faced severe criticism from the opposition. Both BRS and BJP opposed the removal of houses from the riverbed and cornered the government. The farm loan reimbursement scheme, through which the Revanth Reddy government reimbursed more than Rs 22,000 crore to banks, was criticised for not covering all eligible farmers. Almost no major decision of the government went unattacked.
Congress initially winning only 66 per cent of village panchayats was seen as a sign of weakness of the Congress government, as the party was known as a rural-based party. There was some speculation that BRS would fare well in the urban polls due to “anti-incumbency” and its strong presence in urban areas. There were expectations that urban voters would further reject Congress. However, Revanth Reddy turned the tables on everyone by winning over 90 ULBs out of 116.
