The winds of change that swept Karnataka seven months ago have now turned neighbouring Telangana from pink to the Congress tricolour, with a resurgent Grand Old Party stopping the Bharat Rashtra Samithi from scoring a hat-trick of wins.

The Congress won 64 seats against a BRS count of 39 in an Assembly of 119 seats.

In 2018, the BRS (formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi), which has ruled Telangana since the state’s formation in 2014, won 88 seats against the Congress’s 18.

The BJP improved on its 2018 tally of just one seat by winning eight seats, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen won seven seats, the same as it had won in 2018. The CPI, a Congress ally, bagged one seat.

The Congress victory has put the skids on the national ambitions of outgoing chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and his plans to have a “third front” to take on the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc.

Sensing the anti-incumbency sentiments, KCR had contested from Kamareddy constituency apart from Gajwel, which had elected him twice.

While he led comfortably in Gajwel, the chief minister lost in Kamareddy, where BJP candidate K. Venkata Ramana Reddy won.

Congress president Revanth Reddy won by a margin of 32,532 votes in Kodangal against his nearest rival from the BRS.

In his first news conference after the trends suggested a Congress victory, Revanth Reddy pledged good governance and promised to take suggestions from the Opposition, including the BRS.

He referred to a post on X from KCR’s son K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) that conceded defeat and wished the Congress good luck.

“KTR tweeted welcoming the Congress. I thank the BRS. This spirit should be reflected while running the government, as well,” Revanth Reddy said.

“You have governed for 10 (actually 9) years. Now you will be in the Opposition. But we will always respect the suggestions of the Opposition.”

He added: “We will make the policies, but it is the responsibility of the Opposition to give suggestions. We will run the government after taking suggestions from the Opposition and provide good governance to help the poor.”

KTR’s post said: “Grateful to the people of Telangana for giving @BRSparty two consecutive terms of Government. Not saddened over the result today, but surely disappointed as it was not in expected lines for us. But we will take this in our stride as a learning and will bounce back. Congratulations to Congress party on winning the mandate. Wishing you Good Luck.”

KTR won by a margin of 29,687 votes in Sircilla against his nearest Congress rival.

The BRS had during the campaign bathed the state in pink — the colour of its flags — and highlighted how KCR had led the statehood movement, but this seemed not to have impressed the voters.

The Congress did well in most regions, capitalising on the charges of corruption against the chief minister and his family, who were also widely accused of being inaccessible to commoners although their welfare programmes were well received.

Accusing KCR and his inner circle, including his family, of corruption and nepotism, the Congress had promised to replace a “dorala sarkar” (feudal government) with a “prajala sarkar” (people’s government).

The final leg of the campaign saw Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi leading chants of “Bye, bye KCR” in a show of confidence.

The Congress had assigned Karnataka deputy chief minister and state unit president D.K. Shivakumar the job of shielding the party’s victorious candidates from any poaching attempts.

As a safety measure, several candidates were sequestered in the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, where several luxury buses were kept on stand-by to transport them at short notice in the event of a hung House.

As the trends began to suggest a Congress victory, the remaining candidates were asked to rush to Hyderabad from their constituencies and not wait for election certificates.