Following the recent bypoll to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, which was won by the ruling Congress, the gram panchayat elections were viewed as a test of the popularity of the Congress, the BRS and the BJP, although the polls were conducted on a non-party basis.

While observers opined that the impressive performance of candidates with Congress support shows the Congress party’s continued grip on state politics, they did not write off the opposition BRS.

They think BRS has an opportunity to fight back as it has retained its foothold in rural pockets. However, they say that the BJP could not make any progress in terms of its expansion plans in this southern state, especially after it forfeited its deposit in the Jubilee Hill Assembly bypoll.

Claiming that the Congress party’s dominance continued in the results of the third phase of the gram panchayat elections, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on December 17 said the villages had once again crowned the grand old party with victory and his party’s dominance continued in the rural polls.

The outcome of the elections is an approval for the party’s good governance, Goud said.

However, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao claimed the downfall of Congress began with the rural local body polls. He said BRS won a substantial number of panchayats despite the alleged misuse of power by the ruling party.

However, political observers say that Congress managed to continue its winning streak, which began with the 2023 Assembly polls, continued partly in 2024 Lok Sabha polls (where it won eight of the 17 seats) and manifested in the recent Jubilee Hills Assembly bypoll win.

“Congress-backed candidates securing a majority of sarpanch (village panchayat president) posts in all phases � upwards of half the gram panchayats each time � confirms that the 2023 Assembly verdict was not a one-off and that Revanth Reddy’s government retains significant rural endorsement,” said C R Sukmar, senior journalist-turned-advocate.

However, the pockets of setback for local Congress heavyweights and the substantial space still held by non-Congress forces show that the dominance is broad but not hegemonic, leaving room for anti-incumbent consolidation if governance falters, he said.

The Gram Panchayat poll outcome shows that the BRS retained its foothold in the rural areas, giving it an opportunity to continue its fight against the ruling party. BRS suffered major setbacks in a row as it lost power in 2023, drew a blank in 2024 Lok Sabha polls and also failed to retain the Jubilee Hills seat.

However, the BJP could not make much progress in its expansion plans, as seen in the verdict of the rural local body polls.

“The BJP’s tally in the low-to-mid single digits in percentage terms of gram panchayats across phases exposes the gap between its rhetorical claim of emerging as Telangana’s main challenger and its actual organisational penetration in the countryside,” Sukumar said.

Another analyst, Telakapalli Ravi, said the Congress continued its edge, while the BRS survived the challenge to win. BJP almost became a non-player, he claimed.

The BJP suffered a major setback in the Jubilee Hills by-election as it forfeited its security deposit.

Owing to legal hurdles related to the Congress government’s proposal to provide 42 per cent reservation to the Backward Classes in local bodies, the Telangana government, on November 17, decided to conduct elections only for gram panchayats, deferring polls to other rural local bodies, including Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) members.

The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday said an impressive overall voter turnout of 85.30 per cent was recorded in the polls held on December 11, 14 and 17.

Officials had said over 1.66 crore voters, including more than 81.42 lakh male voters and over 85.12 lakh female electors, were eligible to exercise their franchise in the polls. The elections were held on a non-party basis for about 12,700 Sarpanch (village panchayat presidents) and 1.12 lakh ward members.