Decoding the verdict, BRS draws zilch in absymal LS election show

Hyderabad: In its worst-ever disastrous performance in 24 years of its political journey, the BRS has lost deposits in eight of the 17 contested seats in Telangana, including all the four segments from the city. The poor performance has raised questions whether the party has lost the grip over the voters.

The party drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and this will be the first time there will be no representation of BRS in the Lok Sabha ever since the party was formed in 2001. The party which had a strong base in the northern Telangana districts had to face the embarrassment of losing the deposits. The party lost deposits in constituencies of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Zaheerabad, Mahabubnagar, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Chevella and Hyderabad.

In Adilabad, the BRS candidate Atram Sakku secured 1,37,300 votes staying at a distant third there by conceding defeat with more than 4.30 lakh votes to BJP’s G Nagesh. Similarly, in Nizamabad, the party candidate Bajireddy Goverdhan could only secure 1,02,406 votes and was also at the third position, getting defeated in the hands of BJP’s Dharmapuri. The vote difference between Arvind and Bajireddy was over 4.89 lakh. Party candidate in Zaheerabad Gali Anil Kumar was also in third place securing just 1,72,078 votes, losing deposit as the winner Suresh Shetkar from Congress got 5,28,418 votes and the difference between the two was 3,56,340 votes. In Mahabubnagar, the sitting MP M Srinivas Reddy also lost the deposit, conceding defeat by remaining in third position. He secured 1,54,792 votes and the difference between the winner and the BRS candidate was 3,55,955 votes.

The party had good results from the city constituencies in the recently held Assembly elections winning a majority of the seats. However, the party lost deposits in all the four Lok Sabha segments from the city, raising a big question mark over the loosening grip of the party on the voters from the city. The BRS candidate Ragidi Lakshma Reddy failed to save his deposit by securing 3,00,486 votes from the biggest constituency in the country Malkajgiri. The difference between the winner Eatala Rajender and Lakshma Reddy was 6,90,556 votes, resulting in losing the security deposit. Former Deputy Speaker and Secunderabad MLA T Padma Rao also had to lose deposit from Secunderabad Lok Sabha as he secured only 1,29,586 votes. The difference between Padma Rao and Kishan Reddy was 3,43,426 votes. The party had to lose deposit even in a constituency which the party had represented twice in the past. The party candidate Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj had to lose deposit in Chevella where he secured 1,78,968 votes. The difference between the winner Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and Gnaneshwar Mudiraj was 6,30,914 votes. On expected lines the BRS candidate Gaddam Srinivas Yadav lost the election and also the deposit in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. Srinivas Yadav secured a dismal 18,641 votes to lose his deposit from the seat. The difference between the winner Asaduddin Owaisi and Yadav was a whopping 6,43,340 votes.