The recent elections in Telangana saw a close competition between the Congress and BJP, with both parties winning eight seats each. Meanwhile, the AIMIM managed to increase its vote share and hold onto the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat.
The Congress and BJP had hoped to win 10 to 12 MP seats by implementing their respective strategies and groundwork in most Lok Sabha segments. The Congress focused on its welfare agenda to appeal to all sections of voters, while the BJP relied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma, development goals, and nationalist ideology. The BRS highlighted Telangana issues and its commitment to safeguarding state interests, positioning the BJP and Congress as nonlocal parties.
Despite expectations, the Congress and BRS faced defeats in Mahbubnagar and Medak Lok Sabha seats, hometowns of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and BRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao respectively. In Medak, the BRS came in third place, while BJP candidate DK Aruna defeated Congress candidate Vamshidhar Reddy in Mahbubnagar.
The Congress emerged victorious in Khammam, Nalgonda, and Bhongir MP seats with significant margins against BRS candidates. The ruling party also performed well in Nagarkurnool, Mahabubabad, Zaheerabad, Peddapalli, and Warangal. However, some Congress leaders attributed their losses to Prime Minister Modi’s charisma in certain seats.
Revanth Reddy led efforts to secure wins in Mahbubnagar and Malkajgiri seats but was unsuccessful against the BJP. The Congress also struggled to defeat sitting BJP MPs in Nizamabad and Karimnagar despite fielding strong candidates. The BJP, on the other hand, increased its MP tally from 4 to 8 and performed strongly in Malkajgiri, Medak, and Chevella segments.
Analysts noted that the BJP successfully converted BRS votes in favor of their candidates in several segments where the BRS had previously held influence. Despite winning all seven MLA seats in Malkajgiri during the Assembly elections, the BRS could not replicate its success in the Lok Sabha elections.
