BJP losing ground in its top leaders’ strongholds, says TPCC chief

TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud addressing a meeting in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud claimed that the BJP was facing growing opposition across sections of society, citing its defeats in several Legislative Council elections in constituencies associated with its top leaders.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday, he pointed at the BJP’s defeat in the Varanasi Teachers’ constituency, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, and in the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency, in Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s home city and the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Mr. Goud said the BJP candidate in the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency in Uttar Pradesh managed to win by a narrow margin of 307 votes, despite Gorakhpur being associated with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

“Winning or losing a particular number of seats is not the only issue. The places where the BJP has lost are significant,” he said, arguing that the results in constituencies linked to senior BJP leaders reflected growing discontent among graduates, teachers, employees and educated voters.

The TPCC president questioned the BJP’s criticism of the Congress following its performance in the Karnataka Legislative Council elections. If the Congress’s electoral performance in Karnataka was being interpreted as a verdict on its government, the same yardstick should be applied to the BJP’s defeats in Varanasi and Nagpur, he said.

Mr. Goud accused the BJP-led Union government of creating obstacles to the mobilisation of protesters, including denying special trains sought for the journey. Despite the hurdles, thousands of people from Telangana would reach the national capital for the protest, he said.