Congress Wins Just 5 Wards in Andhra Civic Polls, CM Nayab Singh Saini Says People Have Rejected It

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Congress over its performance in the Andhra Pradesh municipal elections, saying the party had been reduced to zero in a state where it once dominated politics. In a post on X, Saini wrote, “Congress is ZERO even on the ballot,” and said the Congress “could not win even a single ward in the Andhra Pradesh municipal elections” and that “the people have completely rejected” the party. The final results from the State Election Commission, however, show the Congress winning five of the 3,942 wards that went to the polls — a near-total wipeout that still underlines the scale of the defeat Saini was pointing to.

The elections to 100 urban local bodies were held on 1 November, with about 61 per cent turnout, and counting began on 3 November before the final results were declared on 4 November. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept the polls: the TDP won 2,535 wards, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) 539, the Jana Sena Party (JSP) 476 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 152, while the Congress managed just five. The TDP also won nine of the 13 mayoral posts and 68 of the 87 municipal chairperson posts in the state.

The scale of the Congress defeat was visible in the big corporations too. In the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, the NDA won 71 of the 120 wards while the Congress failed to open its account. In Tirupati, the NDA won 56 of the 66 wards, with the BJP taking three, the YSRCP two, and the Congress none. In Nellore, the NDA won 50 of the 72 wards — the TDP 41, the BJP six and the Jana Sena three — while the Congress again won none. In Anantapur, the NDA took 37 seats against the YSRCP’s 21, with the Congress at zero.

Saini’s attack comes as the BJP in Haryana is running its ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) campaign, in which it accuses the Congress of spreading confusion over the voter list. The Chief Minister has repeatedly argued that voters are turning away from the Congress wherever it contests. The Andhra Pradesh results — in a state where the Congress once ruled undivided Andhra Pradesh for decades — are being presented by the BJP as fresh evidence of that argument. The TDP-led alliance, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, had fought the elections as a referendum on its government’s work, while the YSRCP, the main opposition, also suffered heavy losses.

For the BJP, the results carry a direct gain as well: fighting as part of the NDA, the party won 152 wards across the state, including three each in Tirupati and Vizianagaram and six in Nellore. Saini said the Andhra Pradesh verdict shows that the public has “completely rejected” the Congress, and the final tally — five wards out of 3,942 — leaves the party with almost no footprint in the state’s urban bodies.