GHMC: Firm in opposition, BJP’s countdown for Telangana assembly polls begin

Hyderabad, Dec 04: The celebrations by the BJP may have been premature, but the fact is that the party has made gains in the Hyderabad Municipal elections.

Experts point out that in 2023, the BJP could expect to ride on the anti-incumbency wave against the six year rule of TRS and possibly even rule the GHMC. However for now, the party has managed to establish itself firmly in the opposition seat and will challenge the TRS.

Experts say that the worry for the TRS is that its vote has shifted to the BJP. The BJP left no stone unturned and sent all of its top leaders to campaign in the city. The Congress on the other hand did not send a single of its big leader for the campaign.

The very fact that the BJP send leaders like Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath sent a strong signal to the cadres about how serious it was about the state of Telangana.

Further Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a phone call to the party's Bandi Sanjay, a Corporators who went on to become MP and then state chief is significant. The call in itself was a morale booster. The message from the PM was that the central leadership will go all out to back the Telangana unit and this only meant how seriously the party was taking the state.

The BJP is looking at Telangana as the second gateway to south after Karnataka. After the last elections the BJP has four MPs. This in fact was a major victory for the party after it managed to win just one seat in the 2018 Telangana assembly elections.

The fact that there are several disgruntled leaders in the TRS and the Congress not having a bright future also has worked for the BJP.