Congress draws blank in Greater Hyderabad as BRS, AIMIM hold their fort

Hyderabad: While the Congress has stormed to power in Telangana, it failed to win even a single seat in Greater Hyderabad, which has 24 seats.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) continued its grip on the region, winning 16 seats while its friendly party All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained all its seven seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also retained its only seat.

Political analysts say the fear among a section of voters in Greater Hyderabad that a change of guard may impact the development in the region may have prompted them to vote for the BRS. There was an apprehension among voters that the change of government may impact the business environment and the flow of investment as the KCR-led government had laid special emphasis on development of the IT sector and urban infrastructure in and around the city.

The Congress had won two seats (Maheshwaram and LB Nagar) in 2018 but both the MLAs later defected to the BRS.

Sabitha Indra Reddy, who was rewarded with a Cabinet berth, retained Maheshwaram while D. Sudhir Reddy was re-elected from LB Nagar.

The result of only Jubilee Hills was yet to be declared. When the counting was stopped due to objections raised by Congress candidate and former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin, BRS candidate and sitting MLA M. Gopinath was leading by 15,939 votes with just one round to complete the counting.

The BRS retained its seats in Hyderabad (total 15 seats), but also in adjoining districts Medchal Malkajgiri (5) and Rangareddy (4). It retained Khairatabad, Amberpet, Musheerabad, Sanath Nagar, Secunderabad and Secunderabad Cantonment in Hyderabad. AIMIM also retained all its seven seats – Charminar, Nampally, Yakutpura, Bahadurpura, Chandrayangutta, Karwan, and Malakpet.

The BJP also retained its lone seat Goshamahal.

In Medchal Malkajgiri district, BRS retained all five seats - Uppal, Kukatpally, Qutbullahpur, Malkajgiri and Medchal. It also retained LB Nagar, Serilingampally, Rajendra Nagar and Maheshwaram which fall in Rangareddy district.

The Congress has wrested power from BRS by winning 64 seats in the 119-member Assembly. The BRS stood second with 39 seats. The BJP and the AIMIM bagged eight and seven seats, respectively. The CPI won the remaining seat.