Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which has dominated Telangana politics for the past decade, suffered a significant blow in the recently announced Lok Sabha election results. For the first time since the party’s formation in 2001 (then known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi), the BRS will have no representation in Parliament.
In comparison to the 2019 elections, the BRS’ vote share plummeted from 41.71% to 16.69% in 2024. Despite early candidate announcements for Khammam and Mahabubabad, the BRS finished in third place in 14 parliamentary constituencies across the state.
The BRS’ poor performance in key constituencies came as a major shock to party leadership. For example, Medak, the home district of BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao and party strongman T Harish Rao, was expected to be a clear win but turned out to be a significant loss.
Similarly, in Karimnagar and Secunderabad, the BJP’s influence through nationalism and communal rhetoric played a pivotal role in BRS’ defeat. Even in Malkajgiri, where the BRS holds all seven Assembly seats, the party failed to secure even the second position.
The BRS experienced a similar defeat in 2009 when it contested in alliance with the TDP and won only two out of nine MP seats during the Telangana statehood movement.
The party first contested the General Elections in 2004, securing five MP seats out of 17 in the Telangana region of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. In subsequent bypolls, necessitated by the party’s decision to resign following delays in Telangana State formation, it retained only two seats. However, post-state formation in 2014, the BRS emerged victorious in 11 of 17 Lok Sabha seats, winning nine out of 17 seats in 2019.
