The Congress, riding on a massive wave of anti-incumbency, romped home in Telangana and is all set to form a government after nine years while the BRS which once prided itself as the party of farmers was singed by agrarian anger and resentment of unemployed youths.

Two-time Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao himself suffered a humiliating defeat in Kamareddy which threw up a huge upset as both he and PCC chief Revanth Reddy lost to BJP candidate K Venkata Ramana Reddy. The BJP, which won only one seat in 2018, did well mostly in North Telangana, bordering Maharashtra though its several key leaders were defeated.

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AIMIM faced a few hiccups with Congress splitting the minority votes in its citadel in the Old City area of Hyderabad, giving the Saffron party the edge.

Giant slayer Venkata Ramana Reddy of the BJP won by only 1,100 votes against both Revanth Reddy and KCR who have never lost an election since 1983. Although he won in Gajwel, his home turf, it was a humiliating defeat for KCR as he often trailed at third place in Kamareddy behind Revanth Reddy.

The Congress state president easily won from Kodangal this time after a loss in 2018. The Congress had kept four buses ready at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad to ferry its MLAs, should the need arise. The party, however, easily reached the magic figure. It, however, failed to win a single seat in the Greater Hyderabad area.

After the win, PCC chief Revanth Reddy said: “We dedicate this win to Telangana martyrs. This time we got the mandate to take forward the ideals of the martyrs of Telangana. We will make sure to deliver all the promises.”

While the Congress won massively in South, Central and North Telangana, it was unable to dent the BRS citadel in Hyderabad city and its adjoining areas – pointing to the agrarian anger against KCR and BRS over the Rythu Bandhu scheme which benefited rich farmers and grievances against Dharani portal, the integrated land records system as well as massive resentment among government job aspirants.

The emotional disconnect with the rural people was deep enough that the BRS, caught off-guard, failed to even gauge the tremendous anger against it, confident that KCR will get a record third term. BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who congratulated Congress, admitted: “Not saddened over the results today, but surely disappointed as it was not on expected lines for us. But we will take this in our stride as a learning and will bounce back.”

The ripples of the Congress victory in Telangana would be felt in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as TDP flags were visible during massive celebrations at Gandhi Bhavan prompting the YSRCP to lash out saying the TDP had transferred its entire vote to the Congress.

KCR’s sheen as the one who brought statehood to Telangana seemed to have worn off completely as his 96 public rallies did not make even a dent while Congress strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s ads on public ire and the punctured tyres of ambassador car (the poll symbol of BRS) did strike a nerve and BRS which plastered the state with photographs of a frail KCR during his 11-day-long fast in 2009, just a day before polls failed to counter the narrative.

The Opposition painted an image of KCR as a distant and indifferent ruler, locking himself in Pragathi Bhavan or his farmhouse did not help matters. After the win, Revanth Reddy announced henceforth the chief minister’s residence Pragathi Bhavan will be renamed after BR Ambedkar and along with the state Secretariat will be accessible to people.

The narrative of tacit understanding between BRS-BJP and AIMIM seemed to have split the Muslim vote. KCR had almost decimated the Congress in 2018 when he split its Legislative party, taking away 12 of the 19 MLAs. This time, nine of the 12 Congress-turned-BRS MLAs lost the election as did many of the BRS ministers.