BJP candidate Eatala Rajender handed the ruling TRS party a major defeat in the hotly contested Huzurabad bypoll. This is Mr. Rajender’s fifth win from the constituency and seventh win as a member of the legislative assembly.
Mr. Eatala defeated TRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav with a margin of nearly 24,000 votes.
After 22 rounds of counting, including postal ballot, BJP’s Eatala secured a total of 1,07,022 votes (51.96 percent of total voters in the constituency), Gellu Srinivas was able to get 83,167 votes (40.38 percent), and Congress Candidate Balmoor Venkat Narsing Rao got 3,014 votes (1.46 percent).
NOTA (None of the Above) secured 1,036 votes.
G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, tweeted that despite the misuse of state machinery, people have chosen the BJP.
Mr. Rajender, a minister in the TRS government, was accused of land grabbing and removed from the cabinet. The ex-Minister complained of harassment, quit the TRS party, and resigned from the legislative assembly before joining the BJP.
Two key figures in the TRS party, KTR (son of Chief Minister KCR) and Harish Rao (Nephew of Chief Minister KCR) tweeted their reactions.
Whether the BJP victory reflects a larger sentiment across the state or is limited to the constituency is being debated in the political circles.