Revanth: Congress Won 66% GPs, Secured Majority in 87 Assembly Seats

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the Congress had emerged victorious in about 66 per cent of the gram panchayats in the state. He alleged that, though the BRS and the BJP worked in tandem through an unofficial alliance, they could secure only 33 per cent of the gram panchayats together.

In the footprint of this victory on Assembly constituencies, the Chief Minister said the gram panchayat elections were held in rural areas that elect 94 MLAs. Of this, the Congress-backed candidates got enough votes to win 87 Assembly constituencies. The BRS was ahead in six constituencies, while the BJP in just one.

The urban areas, where the local bodies elections were not conducted, elect 25 MLAs.

Addressing a press conference at his residence, Revanth Reddy said the people of Telangana had consistently delivered a clear mandate in favour of the Congress in every election held after the 2023 Assembly polls, including the by-elections in Secunderabad Cantonment and Jubilee Hills.

He recalled that the Congress had won 65 of the 119 seats in the 2023 Assembly elections, but its performance had improved significantly in the gram panchayat polls, where it secured dominance in 87 of the 94 Assembly constituencies. In contrast, the BRS managed to gain a majority in only six Assembly constituencies, while the BJP was ahead in just one constituency (Mudhole).

Revanth Reddy said elections were held to 12,702 gram panchayats in a peaceful, free and democratic manner for the first time in Telangana. He said Congress-backed candidates won 7,522 gram panchayats, while an additional 820 seats were secured by the Congress rebel candidates.

Taken together, he said, Congress and its rebels accounted for about two-thirds of the total results (66 per cent), underlining the party’s deepening grassroots presence. Revanth Reddy said the BRS won 3,511 gram panchayats and the BJP won 710, together accounting for 33 per cent seats, while Left Parties and others won 146 gram panchayats (one per cent).

Expressing confidence about the future, the Chief Minister said the same results will repeat in the 2029 Assembly elections, predicting that the Congress would retain power for the second term with a two-thirds majority, while the BRS and BJP together would be limited to about one-third of the seats.

Revanth Reddy asserted that the results of the recent gram panchayat elections reflected a decisive popular mandate in favour of the Congress and amounted to a public verdict on the party’s governance over the past two years.

He described the gram panchayat results as a clear endorsement of the government’s welfare-oriented governance and balanced development agenda. He attributed the party’s success to schemes such as the supply of fine rice to the poor, free electricity up to 200 units, bonus for fine paddy, subsidised LPG cylinders at `500, Indiramma housing, interest-free loans for women’s self-help groups, implementation of SC sub-categorisation and the caste census initiative.

Stressing that the government had not misused official machinery, the Chief Minister said elections were conducted without intimidation or interference and that political power was never used to influence voters.

He said the mandate had increased the government’s responsibility to deliver more effectively. Revanth Reddy also accused the BJP of attempting to weaken the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by changing its name and structure, and said safeguarding democracy was possible only under the Congress leadership.