Telangana State Assembly went to polls in December 2018, with the incumbent Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) securing a landslide victory with 88 seats, with the Indian National Congress (INC) a distant second with 19 seats. TRS head K. Chandrashekar Rao resigned as Chief Minister nine months before the completion of his term and called for early elections and he went on to be re-elected as CM.
As for 2019, the TRS under Mr. Rao is expected to retain its standing as a powerful regional party. The other main parties in the fray are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), INC and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) under president Asadudin Owaisi. In the 2014 general elections, the TRS won 11 of a total of 17 Lok Sabha seats, INC 2, and the BJP, Telugu Desam Party, YSR Congress Party and AIMIM winning one seat each.
For 2019, polling for all 17 Telangana seats was held in a single phase, on April 11, with a voter turnout of 62.71%. Some of the key candidates are K. Kavitha (Mr. Rao’s daughter), Mr. Owaisi, Renuka Chowdhury (INC), Vishweshwar Reddy (INC), Marri Rajashekar Reddy (TRS).
Here are the updates:
Counting for the Bhongir LS seat concludes
Sources say counting for the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat is over and that matching of VVPAT slips is in progress.
TRS’ sitting MP Boora Narsaiah Goud leaves the counting centre, as some reports pointed that Congress’ Komatireddy Venkat Reddy secured 4657 margin over him at the closing 23rd round.
Mr. Venkat Reddy cadres have already started celebrating the victory.
The ECI website says, at 2 p.m., he secured 2183 margin through his 415213 votes over Mr. Narsaiah Goud’s tally of 413030 votes. An official announcement is pending.
TRS suffers a setback
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which had set a landslide victory in the recently held Assembly elections, has suffered a setback in the parliamentary polls.
The ruling party in Telangana was hopeful of securing 16 out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State but the trends of the election results so far indicated that it may not cross the half-way mark of its anticipated number.
The BJP and the Congress, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections held in December 2018, have sprung a surprise in the Lok Sabha polls with both the parties, as per the current trends, are likely to bag four seats each.
BJP, Cong candidates give TRS early scare
In a dramatic turn of events, the ruling TRS faced early scare BJP and Congress candidates leading over the TRS rivals.
The initial counting trends so far have thrown up a mixed bag in Telangana.
BJP candidate D. Arvind is establishing comfortable lead over Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and sitting MP K. Kavita while the BJP's three other candidates are also leading.
In Karimnagar, senior TRS MP B.Vinod Kumar was trailing by close to 50,000 votes against the BJP nominee Bandi Sanjay Kumar. In the Adilabad LS seat, Soyam Bapu Rao of the BJP too pushed the TRS and Congress rivals as his lead continued to see upward trend.
The other seat where BJP was steadily leading was Secunderabad where G.Kishan Reddy maintained comfortable margin.
For the Congress, the TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy as well as its working president A. Revanth Reddy are leading in Nalgonda and Malkajgiri seats while another Congress candidate Konda Vishweshwar Reddy is also maintaining a slender lead over his nearest TRS rival.
MIM's Asaduddin Owaisi is heading to retain the party bastion Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat while TRS candidates are leading in nine other constituencies.
As per the latest trends, the TRS is leading in eight, BJP (four), Congress (three) and MIM (one) - Ravi Reddy
Trends as of 10:30 a.m
According to data available as of 10: 30 a.m, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi is leading in the state in 11 constituencies, followed by the BJP with 4 seats. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Congress are leading in one constituency each.
The trends thus far are reflecting the exit polls prediction of the TRS heading for a win in the state. The BJP however is performing better than what the exit polls predicted for it in the state. Last elections TRS won 11 seats while the UPA and NDA each secured two seats.