HYDERABAD: It is to be seen whether Nomula Bhagath will be able to break the trend of heirs losing in bypolls in the State. Since the formation of the State, no heir has won in any bypoll. In Palair bypoll in 2016, Sucharitha Reddy, wife of Ramreddy Venkata Reddy, contested on a Congress ticket and lost to TRS' Thummala Nageswara Rao.
In Narayankhed bypoll held in 2016 due to the sudden demise of Potolla Kishta Reddy, the Congress party fielded his son P Sanjeeva Reddy as its candidate. But it was TRS' M Bhupal Reddy who won that bypoll. At the time, TRS leaders claimed that the party's candidate overcame the sympathy wave and wrested the seats from the Congress.
In the same manner, the Congress lost another seat in Huzurnagar bypoll. PCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy had resigned as an MLA after he was elected to the Lok Sabha. Reddy's wife Padmavathi Reddy contested in the subsequent bypoll. But TRS again wrested the seat through its candidate S Saidireddy.
In the latest instance, the same pattern of a heir losing was seen in the Dubbaka seat. This time, the TRS' candidate was defeated by the BJP. Due to the death of sitting MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy, the TRS had fielded his wife Sujatha in the poll, who was defeated by BJP's candidate M Raghunandan Rao.