<p>Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been winning state after state across India, appears to be finally cracking its northern <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/telangana/bjp-urges-telangana-govt-to-extend-religious-concessions-to-hindus-after-ramzan-order-3903006">Telangana </a>mold if the just-concluded urban local body polls are anything to go by.</p><p>Long confined to north Telangana despite central leadership's aggressive push, the saffron party showed flickers of broader appeal in recent urban and rural local elections across around 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations.</p><p>BJP emerged as the single largest party in Union Minister Bandi Sanjay's home turf, the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation, and Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind's Nizamabad Municipal Corporation. The party also clinched the Bhainsa municipality, another north Telangana bastion deeply polarized along religious lines.</p><p>Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao touted the gains, noting BJP finished single largest in over 15 municipalities and played a pivotal role in electing chairmen and vice-chairmen. "Although we won fewer municipalities than expected, our overall vote percentage has increased significantly. BJP had 204 seats in 2020, which jumped to 336 in these urban local elections," Rao said. The party secured chairperson positions in Karimnagar Corporation, plus Narayanpet and Bhainsa municipalities.</p><p>He pointed out the main opposition BRS suffered a 14 percent drop in vote share. BJP's votes and seats rose compared to past polls, proving new strength in southern Telangana spots like Khammam, Kothagudem, and Narayanpet traditional Congress or BRS territory.</p>.Telangana municipal polls: Congress maintains winning streak, BJP finds solace in Karimnagar.<p>"When compared to past urban and rural local body polls in Telangana, BJP performed decently, especially extending beyond north Telangana into the south in places like Khammam and Narayanpet, which were once Congress or BRS strongholds," former senior journalist and political analyst Raka Sudhakar told DH. "The worry is the 16 percent vote share in these urban polls not proportionate to BJP's performance in 2024 parliament polls in which the party won eight Lok Sabha seats from the state. Ideally, they should have been the second largest party, but ended third after BRS. Interesting times ahead," added Sudhakar.</p><p>Now, for BJP the real test awaits in the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, where stakes run high. BRS draws its strength from this urban belt, having excelled here in the 2023 assembly elections even as it faltered elsewhere.</p>
<p>Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been winning state after state across India, appears to be finally cracking its northern <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/telangana/bjp-urges-telangana-govt-to-extend-religious-concessions-to-hindus-after-ramzan-order-3903006">Telangana </a>mold if the just-concluded urban local body polls are anything to go by.</p><p>Long confined to north Telangana despite central leadership's aggressive push, the saffron party showed flickers of broader appeal in recent urban and rural local elections across around 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations.</p><p>BJP emerged as the single largest party in Union Minister Bandi Sanjay's home turf, the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation, and Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind's Nizamabad Municipal Corporation. The party also clinched the Bhainsa municipality, another north Telangana bastion deeply polarized along religious lines.</p><p>Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao touted the gains, noting BJP finished single largest in over 15 municipalities and played a pivotal role in electing chairmen and vice-chairmen. "Although we won fewer municipalities than expected, our overall vote percentage has increased significantly. BJP had 204 seats in 2020, which jumped to 336 in these urban local elections," Rao said. The party secured chairperson positions in Karimnagar Corporation, plus Narayanpet and Bhainsa municipalities.</p><p>He pointed out the main opposition BRS suffered a 14 percent drop in vote share. BJP's votes and seats rose compared to past polls, proving new strength in southern Telangana spots like Khammam, Kothagudem, and Narayanpet traditional Congress or BRS territory.</p>.Telangana municipal polls: Congress maintains winning streak, BJP finds solace in Karimnagar.<p>"When compared to past urban and rural local body polls in Telangana, BJP performed decently, especially extending beyond north Telangana into the south in places like Khammam and Narayanpet, which were once Congress or BRS strongholds," former senior journalist and political analyst Raka Sudhakar told DH. "The worry is the 16 percent vote share in these urban polls not proportionate to BJP's performance in 2024 parliament polls in which the party won eight Lok Sabha seats from the state. Ideally, they should have been the second largest party, but ended third after BRS. Interesting times ahead," added Sudhakar.</p><p>Now, for BJP the real test awaits in the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, where stakes run high. BRS draws its strength from this urban belt, having excelled here in the 2023 assembly elections even as it faltered elsewhere.</p>