Telangana Municipal Elections: BRS MLAs themselves spoiled the game by avoiding the whip in Telangana Municipal Elections, surprised Gadwal by supporting ‘Haath’

When the process of electing presidents and mayors started in various municipal bodies of Telangana, silence and restlessness could be clearly seen in the camp of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The Gulabi Party’s dream of regaining control over the municipalities seemed to be shattered when the party could not even find many of its own MLAs to issue a whip. Gadwal became the biggest center of this political drama, where BRS MLAs, defying their party’s strategy, installed Congress (INC) candidate Perika Swati on the chair of the chairman. In this game of power, the votes of ‘ex-officio’ i.e. ex-officio members played a decisive role, which has created a headache for BRS.

In fact, the votes of MLAs, MLCs and MPs have become very important for electing chairmen in municipalities. By law, parties have to issue whips to these members, for which it is mandatory for the members to be present in person and take their signatures. The crisis for BRS started when the party could not reach out to the MLAs who were said to be in touch with the Congress for some time. Party strategists kept roaming around with copies of the whip, but none of these MLAs considered close to the Congress were available to receive the whip. The situation was even more shocking in Gadwal, where BRS MLAs flouted party discipline by openly supporting the Congress candidate.

Wave of discontent within BRS

If we turn the pages of the past, there was a wave of dissatisfaction within BRS since the 2023 assembly elections. The results of the recent civic elections created a hung situation in many municipalities, where there was a tough contest between Congress, BRS and BJP. In such a situation, the ex-official vote was the key to unlock the power. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Congress succeeded in attracting the disgruntled faction of BRS towards itself. There were already speculations in Gadwal and its surrounding areas that some big faces of BRS might switch sides, and today’s incident has confirmed those discussions.

urban politics of telangana

Now Congress seems to be gaining the upper hand in the urban politics of Telangana. For BRS, this is not just an electoral defeat but a major failure on the leadership and loyalty front. This hide and seek to avoid the whip shows that the center of power in the state’s politics has changed and the changed loyalties of the MLAs have demolished the strong forts of BRS. Losing control over urban bodies could pose a big organizational challenge for KCR’s party in the times to come.