Explained: Despite losing, why the Munugode Assembly bypoll result is a win for the BJP

The votes have been counted and it’s a win for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) or now known as Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana.

The prestigious bypoll for the Munugode Assembly seat in Telangana has gone to K Chandrashekar Rao-led party’s Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy after he defeated BJP’s Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy with a margin of over 10,000 votes.

The counting was an up-and-down affair with the TRS and BJP trading leads. It was only after the fifth round that the TRS’s K Prabhakar Reddy started pulling ahead of the BJP candidate. At the end of counting, the tally stood at 97,006 votes for the TRS, 86,697 for the BJP, and 23,906 for the Congress’s Palvai Sravanthi Reddy.

TRS wins high-stakes Munugode assembly bypoll in Telangana by over 10,000 votes

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 6, 2022

The bypoll was necessitated by sitting MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy’s resignation from the Congress in August to join the BJP.

As the TRS celebrates its victory, let’s take a look at the key takeaways from the results of this bypoll — billed as a potential bellwether for the 2023 Assembly elections and if it affects the national political scenario.

Cementing its national ambitions

A win at Munugode doesn’t really change the numbers in the Legislative Assembly, with TRS having 104 of the 119 MLAs. However, it has larger implications for all political parties.

For the TRS, it helps in cementing its national ambitions and showing the BJP and the public, at large, that it is a worthy opponent to the BJP.

TRS leaders celebrate party's victory in Munugode by-elections at #Telangana Bhavan - INN Photos#MunugodeResult #TelanganaWithKCR #TRS #BRS #Telangana #KCR #KTR #Hyderabad #ByElections2022 #MunugodeBypoll pic.twitter.com/2NPSRDzGGP

— INN (@INNChannelNews) November 6, 2022

The bypoll, which was essentially a three-way contest, saw the BJP and TRS in an all-out fight, with too much money being spent, allegations and counter-allegations flying and fabrications, fake news spreading like wildfire. At the end of it all, the voters chose the car symbol (the symbol of the TRS).

This victory will give a boost to KCR, who has been nursing national ambitions for quite some time; on 5 October (Dussehra), he launched the BRS with the aim to counter the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The win also shows KCR as a potential Opposition candidate to go up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In recent times, the question that keeps being asked is if there’s any leader who can stand up to Modi on a national stage.

As of now, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee are the only two names, but with the Munugode bypoll result, KCR has thrown his name into the fray.

Besides national ambitions, the win in Munugode is a moral victory and a bonus for the TRS — who have been staving off attacks from the BJP, trying to encroach on their political turf.

A win for the BJP despite its loss

Despite losing the Munugode bypoll, which was necessitated when sitting MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy switched sides from Congress to BJP, many political pundits say that all is not lost within the saffron party.

In the short term, they believe, that while it does look bad for the BJP with the sitting MLA losing, it has far-reaching implications.

The BJP maintains that the Munugode bypoll shows that the saffron party is now the main alternative political force in Telangana to take on the ruling TRS in the next Assembly/general elections.

Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman was quoted as saying that the results had clearly shown that the BJP is the only force to reckon with to take on the TRS “family-corrupt regime” and “we will continue our fight against this government policies.”

BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said, as per a report in The Hindu, “From 2018, we have come a long way as the difference is 10,000 votes between us and TRS at Munugode. I am proud of the fight put up by Rajagopal Reddy and our cadre. He is a hero for having quit and forced the bypoll for the sake of his constituency development. Will the TRS make the 12 Congress turncoat MLAs do the same?”

Political observers have noted that the BJP has pushed the Congress out, creating new space for itself in the southern state, which will only enable it to make further inroads into the South.

Also, the BJP’s high-decibel campaign forced the TRS to field all its big guns, including K Chandrasekhar Rao and the entire Cabinet in a by-election campaign — displaying that when it comes to political resources nationwide, the BJP remains unmatched.

An embarrassment for the Congress

The Munugode bypoll result serves as another disappointment for the Congress, who had fielded Palvai Sravanthi Reddy. The Congress candidate was able to garner only 23,906 votes, thus failing to even save her deposit.

Interestingly, this constituency has long been a stronghold of the Congress — in 2018, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy won this seat with a margin of more than 20,000 seats over its nearest rival — the TRS.

The result is even more embarrassing as the election came as Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through the state at the same time. This shows that Rahul Gandhi’s march during which he played dhols, wielded a whip against himself, meant nothing to the voter.

Political experts believe that the loss will facilitate further exits from the Congress, sounding the death knell for the Grand Old Party in the southern state.

With inputs from agencies

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