Telangana Dubbak win is a morale booster for BJP, wake up call for ruling TRS

The poll outcome will have no bearing on the Tealngana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government as the party enjoys a massive strength of 100 in the 119-member assembly. Though one bypoll result would not drastically alter the political situation in the state, the BJP's win, however, assumes significance as Dubbak is part of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's native district of Siddipet and a traditional stronghold of theTRS.

The BJP's victory in the Dubbak assembly constituency byelection in Telangana has come as a huge morale booster to the national party especially ahead of the coming polls to the city civic body and a wake up call to the ruling TRS. In a close-contest, BJP candidateM Raghunandan Rao pipped his nearest TRS rival Solipeta Sujatha by a margin of 1,079 votes in the November 3 Dubbak bypoll, result of which was declared on Tuesday.

The byelection was necessitated due to the death of Sujatha's husband Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy of TRS due to health issues in August. The poll outcome will have no bearing on the Tealngana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government as the party enjoys a massive strength of 100 in the 119-member assembly.

Though one bypoll result would not drastically alter the political situation in the state, the BJP's win, however, assumes significance as Dubbak is part of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's native district of Siddipet and a traditional stronghold of theTRS. Ramalinga Reddy wonin Dubbak in the 2018 assembly polls with a massive majority of over 62,000 votes.

BJP's Raghunandan Rao, who was unsuccessful in 2018, had got 22,595 votes then. He has now secured 63,352 votes to emerge the winner.

Cheruku Srinivas Reddy of the Congress finished third with 22,196 votes. BJP's Dubbak win is also significant as the TRS has a stranglehold on state politics at present, having won the 2018 assembly polls, followed by good showing in last year's Lok Sabha elections and also the local body polls.

It's victory breaches the impregnable fort of the ruling party, especially in Siddipet district. State BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar proved to be a lucky mascot for the party as it achieved the prestigious win after he took over the party's reins in Telangana recently.

TRS supremo Rao and his son K T Rama Rao, the party's Working President, did not campaign in Dubbak for the bypoll which was helmed by state Finance Minister T Harish Rao, known for his organisational skills. The bypoll triumph is sure to give head start to the BJP in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls to be held soon and boost the party's morale which hopes to emerge as the alternative to the TRS by the 2023 assembly elections.

Political analyst and journalism professor K Nageshwar said it was wrong to conclude that one byelection will have a tremendous impact on state politics. The Dubbak outcome can neither be underestimated nor over exaggerated, he said.

"If that is the case, then BJP won Mahabubnagar in 2012. What impact did it have on the 2014 mandate (when TRS assumed power after formation of Telangana). Did BJP win Mahabubnagar again? Forget about winning Mahabubnagar, they have gone to third position in Mahabubnagar," he told PTI here.

He cited the examples of TDP winning a bypoll in Nandyal in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh but losing the 2019 assembly polls and Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy losing in 2018 assembly polls in Telangana but emerging victorious in the Lok Sabha polls last year. Referring to the BJP faring poorlyin Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh in 2018, he asked whether it had any impact on the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

Indian democracy has reached a stage where every election was different, having its unique characteristics, Nageshwar said. These examples show that a single bypoll would not substantially alter the political situation in the state, he maintained.

However, it cannot be underestimated as BJP has increased its tally by three times and that Dubbak is a TRS stronghold. There was no specific reason for TRS to lose Dubbak.

The Dubbak outcome represents a sporadic anti-incumbency among certain sections of society like youth and the mood of the people is that the TRS needs to be given a jolt, he said. It doesn't mean that people wanted to totally decimate the TRS.

The BJP could galvanise the sporadic discontent, the analyst said. The Dubbak result was symptomatic of a political trend where TRS cannot take people for granted and needs to take corrective measures, he opined.

Buoyed by the success, BJP would work with renewed vigour in the upcoming GHMC elections, Nageshwar said. Observing that the Dubbak win is unlikely to help BJP in a big way in the GHMC polls, he, however, felt that the party would benefit if there was anti-incumbency in the city.

If BJP manages to win the GHMC polls, it would be a much more threat to the TRS, he said..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)