Huzurabad not just a blip, BJP growing in strength in Telangana

HYDERABAD: The Huzurabad by-poll outcome cannot be dismissed, but at the same time it cannot be termed as the barometer for the 2023 assembly elections.
Looking at the performance of BJP after its debacle in the 2018 polls — where it lost deposit in over 100 assembly constituencies — the saffron party has been gaining traction among people not only in urban areas but also the hinterland in Telangana.
With only an MLA in its kitty from the 2018 assembly polls, BJP shocked everyone by winning four Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections. Except Secunderabad, other three seats — Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Adilabad — have predominantly rural voters.
Then came the shocker for the TRS, whose juggernaut was stopped in the Dubbak by-poll by BJP. Though the margin of victory was less than 1,500 votes, the saffron party polled votes in rural areas. This was the first defeat for TRS in a by-poll after Telangana was formed in 2014. The saffron party’s victory made BJP emerge as a challenger to Congress for the main opposition status in Telangana politics.
Riding on the success of Dubbak bypoll, the saffron party came up with an impressive performance in GHMC polls making inroads into TRS wards and divisions in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, where in Congress was relegated to a poor fourth position.
But before BJP could establish itself as a clear alternative to the ruling TRS, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao pulled one back by defeating BJP in its seat, the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar Graduate MLC seat. In an astute political move, KCR fielded S Vani Devi, daughter of former PM P V Narasimha Rao, from this seat, and she trounced the saffron party nominee. BJP fared much worse in Nalgonda-Khammam-Warangal Graduate MLC seat, where it was pushed to fourth place.
Speaking to TOI, political analyst Prof K Nageshwar said BJP lost its deposit in Nagarjunasagar by-poll but came back to win Huzurabad by-election.
BJP could strike TRS in the by-poll, but can it inflict a fatal injury in 2023-polls? Well, it is too early to predict, say political analysts.