In a nerve-racking battle in Parkal constituency in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on Friday, the TRS and YSR Congress candidates were locked in a contest in which their fortunes kept fluctuating.
The initial leads gained by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate Biskhapathi in Parkal Assembly Constituency began sliding dramatically with YSR Congress nominee, Konda Surekha reducing the margin to 283 votes at the end of the 17th round. There are two more rounds to go.
After leading consistently from the first round and leading by a margin of 6,048 votes in the 10th round over Ms. Surekha, the next few rounds saw a slump in the fortunes of Bikshapathi. The lead over his nearest rival was reduced to 1723 votes in the 12th round 267 in the 16th.
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The BJP which made a spirited bid to wrest the seat however ended up in the fourth place with the Telugu Desam faring better.
In spite of the YSR Congress party remaining non-committal on Telangana issue, unlike TRS and BJP, the two parties championing the cause of separate State, the performance of YSR Congress might be a cause of concern for the two pro-Telangana parties.