Telangana’s ruling Congress party has emerged victorious in 62 out of 116 municipalities and three out of seven corporations as votes were tallied on Friday. The main Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) secured power in 12 municipalities, while Forward Block took one urban local body. In 37 municipalities, no clear winners were declared, leading to intense lobbying by Congress and BRS to sway independents for key positions.
Results from four municipalities are still pending. The Congress party also clinched a majority in Mancherial, Ramagundam, and Nalgonda corporations, with a lead in Mahabubnagar. In Kothagudem corporation, Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI) each won 22 seats. Meanwhile, the BJP led in Nizamabad and Karimnagar corporations, known as its strongholds in Telangana.
Out of 2,582 wards in municipalities, results were announced for 2,543 seats by 4:30 p.m. The Congress secured 1,325 wards, BRS got 707, and the BJP trailed with 260 seats. Other parties like AIMIM and independents won 251 seats. In the seven municipal corporations’ 414 divisions, results from 291 divisions have been disclosed. Congress won 154, BRS secured 49, BJP claimed 34, and others got 54 divisions.
The municipal elections witnessed a high voter turnout, with over 73% of eligible voters casting their ballots in 116 municipalities and seven corporations. The State Election Commission reported that out of 52,17,413 eligible voters, 38,09,406 exercised their franchise. The voter turnout was 75.88% in municipalities and 66.05% in municipal corporations.
Notification for electing Municipal chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, corporation mayors, and deputy mayors is set to be issued on Saturday. The newly-elected councillors and corporators will take oath on February 16 (Monday) and proceed to elect Municipal chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, corporation mayors, and deputy mayors on the same day.
