Majlis wins Andhra bypoll

The Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen has won the September 26 bypoll by a margin of 19,716 votes to retain Karwan seat in Andhra Pradesh.

Its candidate Mukthadir Khan trounced his nearest rival Baddam Bal Reddy of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress nominee Amar Singh was relegated to the third place.

Khan secured 67,376 votes as against the 47,660 polled by Reddy, a former legislator.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Majlis member Syed Sajjad on June 2, 2003. Though 10 candidates were in the fray, the contest was mainly between the Majlis and BJP.

The ruling Telugu Desam Party supported the BJP.

The outcome has come as a setback for the BJP-TDP alliance. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu had campaigned in the constituency, located in the western parts of the Old City of Hyderabad.