Congress supporters celebrate their victory in the municipal elections in Sangareddy on Saturday. | Photo credit: MOHD ARIF
The ruling Congress (INC) not only emerged as the largest party in terms of vote share, securing 39.80% of the total votes polled, but also left behind the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) by a huge margin of 11%.
This difference is huge considering that the gap between BRS and Congress in the 2023 assembly polls was just 2%. The Congress improved its share in the parliamentary elections to 40.1%, while the share of the BRS fell to just 16.7%. BJP was the biggest gainer of BRS loss.
In the municipal elections, the results of which were announced on Friday, February 13, the Congress won not only the maximum number of seats, but also the maximum share of votes. The only consolation for BRS is that it has improved its vote share, with BJP now losing massively compared to BRS.
Out of a total of 37,81,232 votes polled, the Congress got 15,05,006 votes, giving a 39.80% vote share. BRS followed in second place with 10,87,347 votes with 28.76%, leaving a gap of over 4.17 lakh votes between the two leading contenders.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished a distant third, securing 5,92,823 votes, a mere 15.68% of the total. Independents occupied the fourth position with 3,14,096 votes (8.31%), while AIMIM and AIFB rounded out the top six with 3.29% and 1.51% votes respectively.
Vote share figures by party also showed a highly polarized contest, with the top two parties together accounting for more than two-thirds of all votes cast.
Bright edge
The vote margin further highlights the clear superiority of the Congress over the BRS, with the difference being 11.05% votes. The BRS has a huge lead of 13.08% of the votes over the BJP, which was hoping to consolidate and replace the main opposition party in the next general elections.
Interestingly, the BJP, which won 34.9% of the votes in the 2024 assembly elections, lost almost 20% of the votes, even in urban areas where it was expected to do much better. BRS, which won only 16.7% of the votes in the parliamentary elections, improved to 28.76%. However, it secured additional votes from the BJP, while the Congress improved significantly with an 11% margin over the BRS, which reinforces the continued faith of the people from 2023.
In the 2023 parliamentary elections, the Congress won 64 seats, securing 39.4% of the vote, while the BRS won 37.3% of the vote, winning 39 seats. The BJP got 13.9% of the votes in the assembly elections, but improved two and a half times in the Lok Sabha polls.
Published – 14 Feb 2026 20:16 IST