JOIN USConsidered as a pre-final to the general elections in Andhra Pradesh, the results of the municipal elections for which counting was held on Monday, proved to be a shocker for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana and the YSRCP in Seemandhra.
The TRS lost its Gajwel municipality to arch-rival TDP. This is the constituency from which TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is contesting as an MLA.
While the Congress has won a majority of the municipalities and corporations in Telangana, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has made a comeback in Seemandhra ending a decade-long dry spell.
In Adilabad (Telangana), which is considered as a stronghold of the TRS, the Majlis (AIMIM) made its entry by winning Bhainsa municipality and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) opened its account by winning the Nirmal municipality.
Riding on the bifurcation wave, the Congress has won 23 municipalities out of 56 that went to polls in Telangana, the TRS won 9, TDP 4, and BJP 2. The remaining municipalities remain hung with no single party able to claim victory.
The Congress won two corporations out of three in Telangana and the TRS won the Karimnagar corporation, proving its grip over Northern Telangana once again.
The TDP drove the YSRC to the second place in Seemandhra, winning power in five corporations out of 7 and 64 municipalities out of 89 municipalities. The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) bagged two corporations and 19 municipalities. In Seemandhra, 18 municipalities were hung. TDP won 187 divisions and 1432 wards and YCP has won 121 divisions and 745 wards.
The Congress party has been wiped out in Seemandhra bagging just 2 divisions and 41 wards and winning not even a single municipality or corporation out of the 13 Seemandhra districts including in Madakasira, the native town of APCC Chief N Raghuveera Reddy.
Reacting to the outcome, TPCC chief Ponnala Laxmaiah said that the people of Telangana stood by the Congress that delivered Telangana. He predicted a similar victory for Congress in the parishat election results to be declared on Tuesday and the Lok Sabha elections, results of which will be announced on May 16.
Etela Rajendra of TRS refused to accept defeat saying that the TRS had withstood the money power of Congress and the results on May 16 will be entirely different. “Even KCR did not go for campaigning in municipalities, our aim was different,” he argued.
Meanwhile, TDP cadres here and across Seemandhra celebrated their victory by distributing sweets and exploding crackers at the NTR Trust Bhavan. TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who is in Singapore, said in a press release that the TDP victory in the municipal polls were a victory against corruption.
The YSRC reacted cautiously saying the party will analyse the results after a clear picture emerges.