HYDERABAD: The Telangana voter has given his verdict: He will not settle for anything less than Telangana.
In the by-elections to the 12 Assembly seats in five Telangana districts, the voters gave a resounding victory to the TRS candidates in 11 seats and to the BJP candidate Y Lakshminarayana in Nizamabad Urban, demonstrating their commitment to the Telangana cause.
The heaviest casualty in the election was PCC chief D Srinivas, who lost to BJP’s E Lakshminarayana in Nizamabad Urban by a margin of 11,981 votes.
The election in this constituency evoked interest across the state amid speculation that if Srinivas wins, he could emerge as a potential contender for the Chief Minister’s post.
Badly bruised in the electoral battle, Srinivas attributed his defeat to the overwhelming Telangana sentiment in favour of the candidates who had resigned as MLAs.
By winning 11 seats, the TRS has improved its tally in the Assembly by one.
In all the seven constituencies - Nizamabad Urban, Dharmapuri, Vemulavada, Siddipet, Sirpur, Chennur and Mancherial - the results of which were announced by Friday afternoon (where EVMS were used), the TDP forfeited deposits.