Telangana’s latest urban local body elections have produced contrasting outcomes for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the party opting out of the mayoral contest in Nizamabad even as it secured a decisive win in Karimnagar.

In the 60-member Nizamabad Municipal Corporation (NMC), the BJP won 28 seats, falling three short of the majority mark of 31. Despite emerging as the single largest party, Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind announced that the party would not enter the race for Mayor.

“We earned the people’s mandate through trust and conviction. The rest is arithmetic. Horse-trading is not my path,” Arvind said, indicating that the party would avoid post-poll negotiations to secure additional support.

With the BJP stepping aside, attention has turned to possible coalition arrangements between the Congress and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Although AIMIM is not the largest bloc, it holds a potentially decisive role in a fractured mandate where ex officio votes could determine the final outcome.

Under the system, elected representatives such as MLAs and MPs registered in the city are entitled to vote in the mayoral election. For instance, if a party has two MLAs and one MP eligible to vote, it gains three additional votes, which could alter the balance in a secret ballot.

Karimnagar delivers clear majority to BJP

The situation in Karimnagar was markedly different. In the 69-member council, the majority mark stands at 35. However, after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) boycotted the session, the effective majority figure dropped to 31.

With 34 corporators backing it, the BJP crossed the revised threshold comfortably and secured the mayoral post.

Kolagani Srinivas, corporator from the 2nd Division, was chosen as Mayor, while Sunil Rao was named Deputy Mayor. The appointments were finalised by Telangana BJP state president N Ramchander Rao, in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

Srinivas, a former student activist associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), has risen through the party ranks from its youth wing to the mayoral office. Party leaders described his elevation as a recognition of grassroots leadership.

While the Congress registered strong performances across several urban centres in Telangana, the BJP’s results in both Nizamabad and Karimnagar mark its most significant urban gains in the state since the 2020 civic polls.

Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has once again stirred controversy with sharp remarks against senior leaders of his party. In an interview with media, the former Union Minister criticised Shashi Tharoor, Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, while also expressing doubts over the Congress’s prospects in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections.

Aiyar said he does not believe the Congress will win in Kerala, claiming that party leaders are deeply divided. According to him, internal rivalries are stronger than their opposition to the Left parties.

Sharp words for party colleagues

During the interaction, Aiyar described Pawan Khera as a “puppet” and questioned his role as a party spokesperson. He said if the Congress cannot find someone other than Khera to speak for the party, it would remain in its current condition.

He also took aim at Shashi Tharoor, calling him “anti-Pakistan” and suggesting that the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP harbours ambitions of becoming the country’s next foreign minister. In addition, Aiyar remarked that Jairam Ramesh, who handles party communications, has to “keep his job”.

The comments come at a time when Tharoor has reportedly had differences with sections of the party leadership over certain issues.

Praise for Pinarayi Vijayan adds to row

The latest remarks follow an earlier controversy in which Aiyar publicly praised Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at a seminar in Thiruvananthapuram titled “Vision 2031: Development and Democracy”. He had predicted that the Left leader would continue as Chief Minister after the upcoming polls.

At the event, Aiyar credited Kerala’s progress in Panchayati Raj and said the state had fulfilled former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s vision. Addressing Vijayan, he said he would “fall at your feet” and requested him to carry forward what he described as the Congress’s unfinished agenda.

The remarks drew criticism within party circles, especially as the Congress is preparing to contest the Assembly elections against the Left in Kerala.

Congress responds

The Congress was quick to distance itself from Aiyar’s statements. Pawan Khera said that Aiyar has had no connection with the party for the past few years and that he speaks purely in his personal capacity.

Jairam Ramesh also responded, asserting that the people of Kerala would bring the United Democratic Front back to power and claiming that the Left Democratic Front and the BJP are covert partners.

Aiyar’s latest comments have once again put the Congress in an uncomfortable position as it prepares for key electoral battles.

India on Monday began hosting one of the world’s largest artificial intelligence gatherings, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to position the country as a key player in the race to build advanced AI systems.

The India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi is drawing world leaders, technology executives, AI founders and investors. Among those expected to attend are Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc., Sam Altman of OpenAI Inc., Dario Amodei of Anthropic PBC and Alexandr Wang, linked to Meta Platforms Inc. initiatives. AI researchers such as Yann LeCun and Arthur Mensch are also on the guest list.

French President Emmanuel Macron will deliver a keynote address on February 19, followed by remarks from PM Modi during the summit’s concluding sessions.

Leveraging India’s digital infrastructure

The summit is being seen as an opportunity for India to showcase its digital public infrastructure, including the Aadhaar biometric identity system that covers more than a billion people. Officials argue that combining AI with digital identity, payments, health, education and governance platforms could accelerate development across sectors.

India has previously demonstrated rapid technological adoption — transitioning from limited landline penetration to nearly a billion smartphones within two decades and emerging as a global software services hub despite missing the personal computer boom.

The country’s digital identity model has also been exported. MOSIP, an open-source platform inspired by Aadhaar’s framework, is assisting countries such as the Philippines, Morocco and Uganda in building national ID systems. Some are also adopting similar frameworks for digital payments.

India’s position in the AI race

According to Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, India ranks third globally in AI competitiveness, behind the United States and China.

Major AI firms are expanding their footprint in the country. OpenAI and Anthropic are building operations targeting enterprise users, developers and government agencies. Companies such as Google and Meta are increasing data centre capacity to support demand for products like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Nvidia Corp. has also identified India as an important market amid US export restrictions on high-end chips to China, although its chief executive withdrew from the summit citing unforeseen circumstances.

Focus on local and affordable AI models

At the summit, government-backed BharatGen is set to unveil Param2, a 17-billion-parameter AI model supporting 22 Indian languages. Sarvam AI, supported by global venture investors, will present a larger voice-first model aimed at serving India’s multilingual population.

Developers say these models are designed to lower costs and expand AI access across governance, education, healthcare and agriculture. The emphasis on affordability is intended to accelerate adoption in India and other developing markets.

However, industry observers note that limited historical investment in research and development could pose challenges. Strengthening India’s domestic research ecosystem, they argue, will be key to ensuring the country moves beyond serving as a testing ground for global AI products.

Some entrepreneurs believe India can still narrow the gap by focusing on advanced reasoning systems for science and robotics, particularly as future AI development increasingly depends on data beyond the internet.