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In a clear message that the people of Telangana want a separate state, both the Congress and Telugu Desam Party were rejected by the electorate in the region, reports Mohammed Siddique
The ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh has suffered a massive blow as the party drew a blank in the by elections to the seven assembly constituencies.
While Telangana Rashtra Samiti swept four of the six constituencies in Telangana region and one seat was bagged by a pro Telangana independent candidate, the lone seat in Andhra was bagged by the YSR Congress of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, sounding an alarm bell for the Congress.
In a clear message that the people of Telangana wanted a separate state, both the Congress and main Telugu Desam Party were rejected by the electorate in the region.
Congress forfeited its deposit in Station Ghanpur while Telugu Desam lost its deposit in Kamareddy constituency. In Kollapur the TDP came fourth behind the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
TRS won the seats of Adilabad, Kamareddy, Station Ghanpur, Mehbubnagar and Kollapur. Nagarkurnool seat in Mehbubnagar district was bagged by independent Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who had resigned from the TDP in protest against the anti Telangana stand of the party leadership.
In Mahbubnagar constituency BJP candidate Srinivasulu Reddy was declared elected with a majority of 1,897 votes over TRS candidate Syed Ibraheem.
Counting in these constituencies saw many ups and downs as Congress was in the lead for some time and the TRS was trailing at the fourth position.
The biggest victory for the TRS came in Kamareddy (Nizamabad district) where its candidate Gampa Govardhan defeated the Congress party with a majority of more than 44,000 votes. TDP's deposit was forfeited.
In Station Ghanpur (Warangal), T Rajaiah of TRS won with a majority of more than 32,000 votes defeating his nearest TDP rival Kadiam Srihari. Congress lost its deposit.
In Kollapur, former minister and TRS candidate Jupally Krishna Rao defeated Vishnuvardhan Reddy of Congress by a margin of more than 5000 votes.
Except Mahbubnagar, all the assembly seats had fallen vacant following the resignation of sitting members. In Telangana, the five sitting members had resigned in support of a separate state, quitting their respective parties had joined the TRS. All of them entered the fray as the TRS candidate and now looked all set to retain their seats.
They include Jogu Ramanna (Adilabad), Gampa Govardhan (Kamareddy), T Rajiah (Station Ghanpur) and J Krishana Rao (Kollapur). N Janardhan Reddy, who quit the TDP, was contesting as an independent and was supported by the TRS.
YSR Congress jubilant
In Kovvur constituency of Nellore district, YSR Congress registered an emphatic victory. Its candidate N Prasanna Kumar Reddy defeated S Chandramohan Reddy of the TDP with a majority of more than 20,000 votes. Congress came third,
N Prasanna Kumar Reddy was elected in 2009 on TDP from the same constituency. But he quit the assembly and the TDP to joint the YSR Congress.
Significantly, it is the first assembly seat the YSR Congress has won outside Jagan's home district of Kadapa. The party supporters were jubilant on the result and they predicted its repetition when 18 more seats of the state assembly go to the by polls in the near future.
With the results becoming clear, supporters of Telangana state came out on the streets all over the region to celebrate the victory of the party. TRS leaders hailed the results as yet another verdict of the people in support of a separate state.