The ruling Congress party has emerged as the dominant force in the Telangana municipal elections, winning 381 seats as counting continued across urban local bodies in the state.
The main opposition Bharat
Rashtra Samithi (BRS) secured 212 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 58 seats. Candidates from other parties and independents accounted for 54 seats.
The Congress had taken an early lead when counting of votes began on Friday in 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations, after polling was held on Wednesday.
The party had secured majorities in multiple municipalities during the initial rounds of counting, consolidating its advantage as results progressed.
Over 73 per cent of voters cast their ballots in the elections, which covered 2,981 wards across 123 urban local bodies.
As per figures cited by IANS from the State Election Commission (SEC), 38,09,406 voters exercised their franchise out of 52,17,413 eligible voters.
The voter turnout stood at 75.88 per cent in municipalities and 66.05 per cent in municipal corporations.
Counting commenced at 8 am on Friday amid tight security arrangements across the state.
The Police and the Election Commission had made necessary arrangements at all counting centres to ensure smooth conduct of the process.
In Warangal district, District Magistrate Satya Sharda outlined the counting procedure and told news agency ANI, “In Warangal district, today, counting of votes began at 8 am. We will issue the results as soon as counting is complete.”
“Everything is in accordance with the Election Commission’s norms. As and when the results come ward-wise, we will be declaring,” she said.
Polling was conducted in 2,569 wards across 116 municipalities, with 12 candidates in nine municipalities elected unopposed.
In seven municipal corporations, polling took place in 412 wards, while candidates in two wards in Mahabubnagar and Ramagundam were elected unopposed.
Ahead of the results, Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao had expressed confidence in his party’s performance.
Speaking to ANI, he said, “Last time we had around 330 municipal councillors and corporators and three chairmen. But this time, I am sure the people of Telangana will give a big mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are hopeful that we will fare better and we will be the alternative to the Congress party.”
