HYDERABAD: Barring a stray incident near Clock Tower in Nalgonda, the byelections to three Legislative Council seats from Local Authorities' Constituencies passed off peacefully on Friday. Counting if votes will take place on Monday. As many as nine candidates were in the fray for Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Warangal Local Authorities’ Constituencies, which were vacated by Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, Patnam Mahender Reddy and Konda Muralidhar Rao respectively. Their tenure was to end on January 4, 2022.
Rajgopal Reddy and Mahender Reddy resigned as they were elected to the State Legislative Assembly, while Konda Murali resigned after leaving TRS to join Congress. In Rangareddy and Nalgonda segments only the TRS and the Congress candidates were in the fray. In Warangal besides the TRS and the Congress, three independent candidates were in the contest. More than 90 per cent voting took place in three segments. The total electorate was 2,799.
In Nalgonda, Tera Chinnapa Reddy (TRS) and Komatireddy Lakshmi (Congress), in Ranagareddy former Minister Patnam Mahender Reddy (TRS) and K Pratap Reddy (Congress) and in Warangal, Pochampally Srinivas Reddy (TRS) and E Venkatram Reddy (Congress) were the main contenders. According to officials, 98 per cent voters exercised their franchise for the three MLC seats from Local Authorities Constituencies. Of the 2,799 voters in three constituencies, 2,753 members exercised their franchise in as many as 25 polling stations between 8 am and 4 pm.
Meanwhile, the TRS and the Congress workers clashed near Clock Tower in Nalgonda, when Congress leader Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy and TRS MLA K Bhupal Reddy reached there at the same time. However, the police swung into action and chased away the workers of both the parties.
Naveen Kumar elected unopposed
TRS candidate K Naveen Kumar was elected unanimously as an MLC under MLAs quota on Friday. Naveen Rao was the only candidate who filed the nomination for the byelection of the lone Council seat under MLAs quota. Due to its insufficient strength in the Assembly, the main Opposition did not field its candidate. Naveen Kumar thanked TRS chief and CM KCR for giving him the opportunity and vowed to work hard to improve the image of the party.