BRS Opts Out of 3 MLC Elections
Polls for Council seats turn into a show of strength for Congress and BJP

Hyderabad: The main opposition BRS, which has been accusing the Congress government of failure in keeping its election promises, has dropped out of the February 27 elections to two teacher and one graduate constituency of the Legislative Council.
In a first for the BRS in recent times, the party decided not to enter the MLC poll fray, apparently worried that a defeat would have a severe impact on its prospects in the elections to local bodies — gram panchayats, MPTCs, ZPTCs and municipalities — that are expected to be held soon.
According to party leaders, the BRS could not afford a defeat at this point of time, especially when it was going to great lengths to convince people that there was widespread resentment among people against the Revanth Reddy government.
However, by staying away from the February 27 MLC polls, the BRS has either not chosen to test its current strength, or has serious doubts on its ability to pull off a win — in an election with limited number of voters — covering seven districts, Medak, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, and Nalgonda.
It had lost the graduates constituency in the last elections in 2019 to Congress nominee T. Jeevan Reddy, with the BRS supported candidate M. Chandrashekar Goud behind by more than 39,000 votes.
Any defeat for a BRS candidate, or a BRS supported candidate in the MLC elections will have a severe impact on the party’s narrative — that the Congress government has failed on all its promises it is trying hard to get to the people - which it is reportedly succeeding into some extent, especially in some rural areas.
The party has to make sure it can show its presence and strength across the state which can happen with a decent show in the local body elections. A defeat in the MLC polls will hurt those prospects and give the Congress a chance to claim BRS continues to be rejected by the people, particularly after losing the Assembly elections, and then not winning even a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections. So, a decision was taken to stay away from the MLC polls, party sources explained.
The nomination process for the elections ended on Monday with none from BRS filing their papers leaving the battles to be fought between the Congress and the BJP. Elections are to be held for the Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Graduates’ constituency and Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar, and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Teachers’ constituencies.