It’s a double tally for BJP in Telangana, as party bags 8 MP seats

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana has doubled the number of its Lok Sabha MPs from four to eight, which is the highest ever tally by not only retaining the four existing constituencies, but also winning from four other constituencies in the results declared on Tuesday.

The party was traditionally considered to be strong in the capital region and finally it could prove that by bagging the most constituencies in and around the twin cities and the adjoining districts of Rangareddy, Malkajgiri and Medak.

It did not win in double digits as was projected, but has won for the second successive time in the constituencies of Secunderabad - party chief and Chief Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Karimnagar - where national general secretary and former chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar won, Nizamabad - where D. Aravind won and G. Nagesh (first-time winner) from Adilabad.

The party has also bagged constituencies of Mahabubnagar where national vice-president and former Minister D.K. Aruna emerged victorious, Malakjgiri, where former minister Eatala Rajender has won, Chevella, where Konda Vishweshwar Reddy won and former MLA M. Raghunandan Rao winning from Medak.

Save for Ms. Aruna, who narrowly beat her nearest Congress opponent by about 4,500 votes, the rest of the candidates have won with handsome margins with Mr. Rajender topping the list with a massive 3.9 lakh votes majority against his nearest Congress party opponent P. Sunita Mahender Reddy. He emulated Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, winning the MP elections from the constituency after losing the Assembly polls a few months ago.

Others who lost in the Assembly elections held in December last but have won now include Mr. Sanjay Kumar who lost from Karimnagar, Mr. Raghunandan Rao from Dubbak and Mr. D. Aravind from Korutla segments.

Interestingly, four BRS leaders who jumped before the polls into the party lost - Aroor Ramesh (former MLA) from Warangal, Sitaram Naik (ex-MP) from Mahabubabad, B.B. Patil (sitting BRS MP) from Zaheerabad, and BRS MP P. Ramulu’s son P. Bharat lost from Nagarkurnool. Ex-BRS MLA S. Saidi Reddy too lost from Nalgonda and another new entrant G. Srinivas, who jumped from Congress, lost the Peddapalli constituency.

What could have helped the party in the Parliament polls despite setbacks elsewhere is the aggressive campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he harangued against “dynastic-corrupt-family parties (Congress and BRS)” and tried to turn tables by claiming they are of “same DNA”. He also he did not flinch while making controversial statements against the minority community to polarise.

Home Minister Amit Shah too complemented the Prime Minister’s efforts by addressing several public meetings and conducting road shows to bolster support. The “nine lakh crore rupees funds” to Telangana by the Modi government in the last nine years and how the election was about the nation’s “economic development and security” were other campaign slogans.