In GHMC polls in Hyderabad, BJP made significant gains as it won 48 seats, seven less than the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) which emerged by winning 55 seats as the single largest party.
The results of the GHMC were announced for 149 of the 150 seats, and withheld for the Neredmet division.
BJP emerges as a new TRS challenger
The success of the BJP confirmed it has replaced Congress as the TRS's main competitor, BJP Secretary General Bhupender Yadav said.
After his effective role in the victory of the BJP in the Bihar assembly elections, Yadav was elected as election manager for GHMC polls.
BJP claimed that the results are very optimistic and a moral booster for it.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party secured four seats in the state and then dealt a surprise defeat to the ruling party TRS in the Dubbaka bypoll of the assembly.
WATCH: What the surge in numbers in Hyderabad civic poll means for BJP?
BJP now main threat to TRS' dominance in Telangana
While Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has emerged as the single largest party with 55 seats in the 150-member Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), there are more reasons to worry for the TRS about the results of the election.
In the intensely contested surveys, the BJP may not have captured GHMC, but inside the TRS it sent the alarm bells ringing.
The impressive results gave its dream march in the south an impetus.
BJP has emerged as the principal challenger to TRS from only four seats in 2016 to 48 divisions in 2020 under its belt.
"BJP has clearly made a mark in GHMC elections by improving Party's tally from 2016. And with Congress once again failing, the saffron party acquired the status of main opposition to the ruling TRS," said analyst P. Raghavendra Reddy.
"These results will surely have a bearing on all the future elections in the State, and BJP will be the main opposition to TRS," he further said.
He believes that BJP with the new strength will make TRS struggle politically in the coming months.
While the BJP national general secretary (organisation), B. L Santhosh said in his tweet, "Well done BHAGYANAGAR ......!!!! Great going team @BJP4Telangana You made a mark."
He further added that "Thank You Bhagyanagar. @BJP4Telangana, will give every bit and work every second to repay with gratitude the blessings you have showered. We have moved the mountain. We will replace it too."
GHMC poll in charge and Karnataka Health minister, K. Sudhakar said in his tweet that the huge support received by BJP in GHMC polls is an endorsement of PM @narendramodi's vision of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas" and rejection of TRS' politics of appeasement & MIM's divisive agenda. Congrats to @BJP4Telangana and Karyakartas on this spectacular performance.
Telangana BJP’s gateway to south India?
Political analysts say the saffron party with big gains has emerged as a dominant force in the state with its eyes fixed on the ultimate target of winning 2023 Assembly polls and turn Telangana into second gateway to South India after Karnataka.
It was for this reason that the GHMC campaign was the priority of the BJP leadership.
Central ministers Amit Shah, JP Nadda, party president, and Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, campaigned for party candidates to vote for the civic body.
The party advanced Hindutva's agenda vigorously to polarize votes while blaming TRS for what it called the 'communal' Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's hidden alliance (MIM).
Increasing vote-share of BJP
TRS succeeded in stopping BJP after the establishment of Telangana state. BJP in the 2018 elections faced a catastrophe because it won just one seat in the 119-member assembly.
BJP’s share of the vote was just seven per cent. However a few months later, in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP shocked everyone by winning four seats.
It wrested three TRS seats, including Nizamabad, from where the daughter of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was defeated. The BJP raised its vote share to 20 per cent.
However, analysts say that while weakening Congress by luring its legislators to TRS, Chandrasekhar Rao underestimated the chance of TRS.
The anti-incumbency votes which used to get divided among different parties started consolidating under the BJP. This was demonstrated in Dubbak, where the share of the BJP's vote increased to 38%.
BJP has sent a message to TRS by polling more than 30 percent votes again in GHMC polls that it faces rigid challenges ahead.
The next priority of the BJP will be the Nagarjunasagar assembly by-election seat, which fell vacant following the death of sitting legislator of TRS' Nomula Narsimhaiah three days ago.
TRS needs support of others to retain Mayor’s post The ruling TRS in Telangana has emerged as the single largest party in the GHMC polls, but despite its strength of ex-officio members, who can participate in voting, it may need the support of others to retain the Mayor's post.
AIMIM, led by Asaduddin Owaisi, won 44 seats and Congress won two seats.
