As the first phase of gram panchayat elections in Telangana came to an end on Wednesday, the Congress established its dominance in the rural areas and is all set to put up an impressive show in the second and third phases as well.
Yet, opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi is trying to put up a brave front, running down the Congress saying that it only got an insignificant victory.
BRS working president K T Rama Rao (KTR) sought down play the elections by misrepresenting facts and refusing to accept the people’s mandate.
Analysts say KTR, much like his father and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), failed to acknowledge the public verdict and instead resorted to what they described as distorted interpretations, false calculations, and misleading claims.
In a write-up carried in his party’s newspaper, KTR alleged that the ruling Congress indulged in intimidation and “murder politics,” and claimed that despite the Chief Minister campaigning extensively, the Congress could not cross 44 percent of seats contested.
He portrayed the results as a clear sign of public anger against chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s governance and asserted that the BRS was the only alternative in Telangana, dismissing the BJP’s relevance.
However, critics countered these claims by pointing out inconsistencies in BRS’s own figures.
According to their argument, even by BRS’s calculations, the party won 1,345 sarpanch posts—still fewer than the Congress tally—raising questions about claims of a “resounding victory.”
Based on consolidated information gathered through journalist networks, Congress reportedly won 2,864 out of 4,235 sarpanch positions, accounting for 67.63 percent, while BRS secured 1,143 posts, or 26.99 percent—less than half of Congress’s total.
These figures, also reflected in initial reports published by a leading Telugu daily, indicate a clear advantage for the ruling party.
Analysts noted that panchayat elections are officially non-party contests, driven largely by local factors such as caste equations, personal influence, and village-level group dynamics, rather than state leadership or party ideology.
They questioned how such elections could be projected as a referendum on the chief minister’s performance.
Observers also highlighted that the elections were conducted peacefully without major incidents, crediting the state administration and police leadership for ensuring a smooth process.
Many argued that the real success of the elections lay in efficient governance and law enforcement rather than political one-upmanship.
The debate has once again brought into focus the BRS leadership’s reluctance to publicly acknowledge electoral setbacks since the Assembly election defeat, with critics alleging a continued disconnect from ground realities.