Telangana’s 10th bypoll may redraw political equations as Khairatabad heads for high-stakes contest | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: With speculation growing over a possible by-election in Khairatabad, Telangana’s political parties are bracing for what could become the state’s 10th assembly bypoll since its formation, a contest that may once again test the shifting electoral equations among the Congress, BRS and BJP.Since Telangana’s formation, assembly by-elections have often served as political mood tests, producing high-stakes battles and, at times, surprising verdicts. Of the nine bypolls held so far, the Congress, BRS and BJP have all used them to expand their footprint, making any contest in Khairatabad politically significant.During the first Telangana assembly, two by-elections were held, and both were won by the BRS at the expense of the Congress. The first bypoll, held in Narayankhed in Feb 2016, saw the BRS wrest the seat from the Congress. A few months later, in May, the ruling party retained its momentum by winning the Palair by-election, again defeating the Congress.The second assembly under the BRS govt witnessed five by-elections. While the BRS won three of them, the BJP made crucial breakthroughs by capturing two seats from the ruling party, signalling its emergence as a serious challenger.The first of these contests was the Huzurnagar by-election after sitting MLA N Uttam Kumar Reddy vacated the seat. BRS candidate S Saidi Reddy defeated Congress candidate N Padmavathi Reddy.In Nov 2020, the BJP scored a major victory in Dubbak, where M Raghunandan Rao wrested the seat from the BRS. The subsequent Nagarjunasagar by-election, necessitated by the death of MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah, saw his son, Nomula Bhagat, retain the seat for the BRS.One of the most fiercely contested bypolls in Telangana’s history was in Huzurabad in Oct 2021. After being dropped from the K Chandrasekhar Rao cabinet amid allegations related to land purchases, Eatala Rajender resigned as MLA, joined the BJP and contested the by-election. His victory over the BRS turned the contest into a major political setback for the ruling party.The final bypoll during the BRS regime was Munugode in Nov 2022, where BRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy defeated BJP’s Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy in a closely watched battle. Raj Gopal Reddy is now with the Congress.Following the Congress’ return to power in Dec 2023, two by-elections were held, and both were won by the ruling party. The Congress retained the Secunderabad Cantonment seat in May 2024 and later won the Jubilee Hills by-election in Nov 2025.Against this backdrop, any by-election in Khairatabad would attract statewide attention. More than a routine electoral exercise, it could offer the first clear indication of the evolving political balance among the Congress, BRS and BJP in urban Hyderabad.The constituency itself has a history of changing political loyalties. Danam Nagender won Khairatabad on a Congress ticket in 2009. In 2014, BJP’s Chintala Ramachandra Reddy captured the seat. Nagender returned in 2018 as a BRS candidate and retained the constituency again in the 2023 assembly elections.With Khairatabad having alternated between the Congress, BJP and BRS over the years, any by-election there is likely to be viewed not merely as a constituency battle but as a barometer of Telangana’s evolving political landscape.