The gamble for early polls appears to have paid rich dividends as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Tuesday appeared to be advancing towards a two-third majority in the 119-member Assembly.
The TRS this time has improved its vote share to 47 per cent, an increase of almost 14 per cent from 2014.
The 'Maha Kutami' or grand alliance of the Congress, TDP, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS), have been dealt a harsh blow, ending with 21 seats.
The TRS had won 63 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls, followed by the Congress with 21, TDP with 15, AIMIM with 7 and BJP with 5.
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Home Minister Rajnath Singh on #AssemblyElections2018: Nothing is yet clear from the trends. Congratulations to the MLA candidates and the political parties that are winning. But Mahagathbandhan has failed terribly in Telangana pic.twitter.com/ttONAvgGeq
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Grateful, indebted & Humbled
— KTR (@KTRTRS) December 11, 2018
Thanks Telangana for keeping the faith in KCR Garu & giving us another opportunity to serve you pic.twitter.com/nSwnaLz8z2
Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy: "I am having doubts on results we're getting in Telangana ballot paper counting. We're doubting that tampering could have been done in EVMs. Slips should be counted in VVPAT. All the Congress leaders will complaint to RO officers. We will also complaint to ECI on this matter. How can TRS leaders say before counting that who will lose in elections."
Hyderabad: Congress delegation submits a complaint to Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar raising suspicions that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been manipulated in the state. #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/XTCL0Dcmnb
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
TRS candidate Challa Dharma Reddy wins in Parakala, beats Congress party candidate Konda Surekha
#TelanganaElections : Minister T Hareesh Rao @trsharish leads with 80,000 votes margin in Siddipet, KTR @KTRTRS leads with 53,000 votes in Siricilla and CM KCR leads with 20,000 votes margin in Gajwel, #ResultswithTNIE #Results2018 @NewIndianXpress
— Mouly Mareedu (@Mouli_TNIE) December 11, 2018
KCR's son KTR now leading with 39,647 votes in Siricilla while KCR ahead by 20,000 votes in Gajwel
We dug deep into the problems of Telangana farmers and what the state has done for them. LISTEN HERE
In Siddipet, T Harish Rao is leading with 45,000 votes after 7th round
In Nagarjuna Sagar, Congress leader K Jana Reddy who is seeking his seventh consecutive term as MLA, trails with 3,468 while TRS man N Narsingaiah leads with 4,429.
K Chadrasekhar Rao leading in the 2nd round with 5,450 votes in Gajwel over Congress rival Vanteru Pratap Reddy
Congress leaders K Jana Reddy, A Revanth Reddy and Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka are trailing.
One hour and a bit into the counting, it does seem like the TRS' gamble of calling for early elections is paying off. They are sweeping the state if the early trends are to relied upon. Chandrababu Naidu's attempt to turn the elections into a theatre where simple arithmetic could trump all other considerations hasn't yielded the result he was hoping for. KCR and his party at the moment are the only ruling party who look likely to retain power on Super Tuesday.
TRS is leading in Hyderabad's Khairatabad, Jubilee Hills, Seringapally and Sanathnagar. Congress in LB Nagar.
K Kavitha, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP: We believe people of Telangana are with us. We have sincerely worked and utilised the opportunity given to us. So I believe voters will bring us back to power, and that too independently. We are very confident about it. pic.twitter.com/fgY4EwfguZ
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana Rajat Kumar said: Deletions and inclusions of a voter are made during enrolment and revision of the electoral rolls. Objections under Form No.7 are invariably invited from citizens to raise objections within seven days before carrying out deletions. Similarly, voters are required to apply in Form 6 if they want their names to be included.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana Rajat Kumar said: Deletions and inclusions of a voter are made during enrolment and revision of the electoral rolls. Objections under Form No.7 are invariably invited from citizens to raise objections within seven days before carrying out deletions. Similarly, voters are required to apply in Form 6 if they want their names to be included
Our Resident Editor Ch V M Krishna Rao predicts three likely scenarios today. READ HERE
Several past judgements make it clear that a pre-poll alliance must be considered as the single-largest party, and must get the first invitation to form the government. READ FULL REPORT HERE
TRS: K Chandrashekar Rao (Gajwel)
KT Rama Rao (Sirsilla)
Congress: Uttam Kumar Reddy (Telangana Congress chief, seeking re-election from Huzurnagar); Revanth Reddy (Kodangal)
AIMIM: Akbaruddin Owaisi (Chandrayangutta)
In its pre-poll survey, Times Now-CNX projected a victory for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti with 66 seats in the 119-seat Assembly. It gave 37 seats to Congress and 7 to BJP while others were given 9.
Republic TV-Jan Ki baat gave TRS 50-65 seats and 38-52 to Congress, 4-7 to BJP and 8-14 to others. The majority mark is 60.
#Telangana: Visuals from Congress Office in Hyderabad. Counting of votes to be conducted for the state assembly elections at 8 am today. pic.twitter.com/VtSw6RkID6
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
The counting of votes for the Telangana assembly elections will start today at 8 am.
KCR says TRS will join the people of India to make the country BJP-mukt and Congress-mukt READ FULL REPORT OF HIS SPEECH HERE.
Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM: I say this with all responsibility that K Chandrasekhar Rao has all capabilities & capacities to ensure that a non-Congress govt comes into existence when the next parliament election takes place & this country requires a non-Congress & a non-BJP govt. pic.twitter.com/P0XPQ9wexk
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
#TelanganaElections2018 | TNIE reporter @Jay_Apoorva18 giving us updates from @trspartyonline Bhavan.
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 11, 2018
LIVE report: https://t.co/aeXczTAP6E #ResultsWithTNIE #Results2018 pic.twitter.com/xfRbutTAHh
KCR said at his meeting: We will give return gift to Chandrababu Naidu for entering Telangana politics by entering Andhra politics.
In erstwhile Adilabad district, 8 out of 10 constituencies have been won by TRS and one is won by Congress. In Mancheriyal constituency, counting is still going on. In 2014, Congress had won one seat, BSP had won 2 and TRS had won 7 constituencies.
Asaduddin Owaisi is expected to address AIMIM workers at party HQ. He had promised support to KCR's government as the 'first step towards the larger goal of nation building'.
KCR at the TRS meeting: I spoke to other political parties, we are going to play a crucial role in national politics.
TRS President and Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in Hyderabad: I will actively participate in national politics. pic.twitter.com/bxEkSCa6XD
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Out of 10 constituencies in erstwhile Medak, TRS won 9 constituencies whereas Congress candidate T Jayaprakash Reddy won from Sangareddy.
In 2014, TRS had 8 seats and Congress had 2 seats.
In 2016 by-election, TRS won Narayankhed segment pushing Congress to only one seat in the erstwhile Medak district.
In erstwhile Khammam district, TRS won only 1 seat out of 10 seats. People Front(Congress won 6 seats, TDP two seats) Independent 1 seat. Even in 2014, TRS had won only one seat.
In erstwhile Warangal district, TRS won 10 seats where as Congress won two. TRS improved its tally by 2 seats compared to 2014.
In erstwhile Nalgonda district, out of 12 constituencies, TRS won 8 and Congress won 4.
Telangana: K Chandrsekhar Rao arrives at party headquarters in Hyderabad, he won from Gajwel constituency by over 50,000 votes. TRS is leading on 77 seats in the state. #AssemblyElectionResults2018 pic.twitter.com/Gry1skemYj
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu: People recognize that BJP has done nothing in last 5 yrs and moving towards alternative. People are with us in our fight against BJP. These 5 states results will help form a strong alternative to the BJP. (file pic) #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/jxCOPoNJjJ
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018
Congratulating KCR garu for winning the Assembly elections in Telangana.
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) December 11, 2018
"We have to analyse the factors that contributed to the success of TRS and failure of our alliance," said Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy, senior leader of TDP, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. "We were expecting to get more number of seats. The results are not to our expectations," Reddy told PTI.
He becomes the fourth minister in the list of losers today.
AIMIM second-in-command Akbaruddin Owaisi was probably the first one to leave behind his opponents as early as 10 in the morning, prompting experts to declare him as winner. As the day ended, Asad's younger brother Akbaruddin won by a massive margin of over 80,000 votes against his nearest candidate BJP's Syed Shehzadi's 15,000 votes. Congress candidate Esa Obaid bin Misri languished at the fourth spot with 10.7k votes.
Caretaker CM KCR wins Gajwel seat with 51,515 votes. KCR improved his majority from 19,366 votes in 2014.