TRS bags both seats in Graduates MLC polls

Vani Devi secures 1,49,298 votes — 1,12,689 first preference and 36,580 second preference votes

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi sent a strong signal to the opposition on Saturday that it meant business, and in no uncertain terms, when its candidates Surabhi Vani Devi and Palla Rajeshwar Reddy won comfortably from Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar Graduates constituency and Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam Graduates constituency respectively, after a gruelling counting process.

Vani Devi pulled in a total of 1,49,298 votes — 1,12,689 first preference and 36,580 second preference votes — to comfortably romp home while BJP candidate N Ramchander Rao polled 1,19,198 votes.

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The final figures for the Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam Graduate MLC constituency were yet to be announced at the time of going to the press.

Elections to the two constituencies were held on March 14 and counting was taken up on March 17 that stretched on to four days since no candidate from either constituency could muster the 50 per cent of valid votes plus one rule to record an outright victory based on the first preference votes. This led to the cumbersome process of counting second preference votes and elimination of candidates in various stages.

The emphatic victory of the TRS wiped away whatever minor blues the pink party may have suffered after the Dubbak Assembly constituency bypoll and then the GHMC elections. The win also put paid to the BJP’s attempts at positioning itself as an alternative to the TRS and the Congress’ claim that it still held political relevance in Telangana State.

Vani Devi, daughter of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao who has had limited political exposure, was not a pushover is evident from the fact that she got the better of BJP’s Ramchander Rao with an impressive margin. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao last-minute move of selecting an educationist with a high-value lineage was a well-thought-of strategy, a brilliant one at that.

Rajeshwar Reddy held his own in the Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam Graduate MLC constituency, having toiled for over two months after getting off the block first in the political race. The surprise element in the contest was Teenmaar Mallanna (Ch Naveen Kumar), a television anchor-turned-Youtuber, who was in the second position, pushing seemingly stronger Congress and BJP candidates down the order. The BJP has much to mull about after the party candidate G Premender Reddy could barely manage to hang on to the fourth position before getting eliminated from the race.

Independent candidate K Nageshwar in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar and Prof M Kodandaram of the TJS, who some believed may play spoilsport, also fell by the wayside and were eliminated from the contest as counting for second preference votes progressed.

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