It’s cakewalk for TRS in Medak

Wins LS bypoll by huge margin. Bypoll was necessitated following resignation of Mr Chandrasekhar Rao consequent to his taking over as the Chief Minister of Telangana on June 2.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) continued its sway over Medak parliamentary constituency by winning the byelection by a huge margin of 3,61,277 votes.

As counting ended after 22 rounds, the Medak parliamentary constituency Returning Officer and District Collector Rahul Bojja declared the results. TRS candidate Kotha Prabhakar Reddy trounced his nearest Congress rival and former Minister V. Sunitha Laxma Reddy. The BJP-TDP combine candidate Toorpu Jayaprakash Reddy came third.

Mr. Prabhakar Reddy got 5, 71, 800 while the Congress nominee was way behind with 2,10,523 votes and the BJP at 1,86,334. Right from first round, the TRS nominee maintain unassailable lead over the two rivals in all the seven assembly segments – Sangareddy, Patancheru, Narsapur, Medak, Siddipet, Dubbak and Gajwel (represented by the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao).

With each passing round, Mr. Prabhakar Reddy, an influential transport company owner’s, lead swelled in every segment. The outcome not only enthused Mr. Prabhakar Reddy, who fought his maiden election but the rank and file of the TRS. The party had taken the election as a prestige issue after the Congress and the BJP-TDP combine fielded fairly seasoned politicians.

Bypoll was necessitated following resignation of Mr Chandrasekhar Rao consequent to his taking over as the Chief Minister of Telangana on June 2. He had won the Assembly election from Gajwel assembly segment as well as Medak LS seat. In the general elections, Mr. Rao had won with a majority of 3.92 lakh votes. He polled 6.57,492 votes against his nearest rival P. Sravan Kumar Reddy (2,60,463) and BJP’s Ch. Narendranath (1,81,177).

Mr Rao has termed the bypoll result as the people’s endorsement of his government’s functioning for the first 100 days and a lesson to the opposition parties.

BJP State president G.Kishan Reddy maintained that there was no erosion in its base. The TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah termed victory as official win for the TRS. He accused the TRS of misusing official machinery.