Moral victory, party only alternative to ruling TRS in Telangana: BJP on Hyderabad local polls

The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS had swept the elections four years ago, winning 99 of the 150 wards, whereas the BJP had won only 3 seats

BJP's performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls is a "moral victory" for the party and it has emerged as the "only alternative" to the ruling TRS in Telangana, its general secretary Bhupender Yadav said on Friday.

Counting of votes is underway, and as per the latest trends, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has either won or was leading in over 60 seats, while the corresponding tally for the BJP was 43 and the AIMIM 42.

Follow GHMC Elections 2020 result live here

The Congress has managed two seats, as per the latest results.

The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS had swept the elections four years ago, winning 99 of the 150 wards, whereas the BJP had won only three seats.

The BJP's performance has confirmed the trend that it is replacing the Congress as the main challenger to the TRS, Yadav said. The saffron party had won four seats in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and then dealt a surprise defeat to the ruling party in Assembly bypoll in Dubbaka.

"The results are very encouraging and a moral booster for the BJP, and in a way, it is a moral victory of the party. The results reaffirms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and his model of good governance has acceptability across regions," Yadav, who was deputed as in-charge for the local elections in Hyderabad, told PTI.

While the TRS fielded candidates in all 150 wards in the election, the BJP put up nominees in 149. The Congress, AIMIM and the TDP fielded candidates in 146, 51 and 106 wards respectively.

Asked how he sees the local elections results in the context of the Telangana assembly polls in 2022, Yadav said, "The BJP has emerged as the only alternative and main challenger to the ruling TRS in the state."

He said the party's performance also shows that people have given their mandate against dynasty politics and corrupt practices of the TRS. Responsibilities given to the BJP will be carried out by the party with its best abilities, Yadav added.

The BJP invested its full energy in the elections by appointing one of its key electoral managers, Yadav, who had successfully handled the party's campaign in the Bihar assembly polls.

The BJP also ran a high octane campaign with rallies and road shows by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.