HYDERABAD: The counting of votes in the hotly-contested Nagarjunasagar bypoll is underway and the 37-year-old TRS candidate Nomula Bhagath, son of the former MLA from the constituency, has forged ahead.
Nagarajunasagar was left without a public representative after the sudden demise of Bhagath's father, former TRS MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah, in December. The bypoll was conducted on April 17.
The election witnessed the entry of senior Congress leader and seven-time MLA the 74-year-old K Jana Reddy into the fray and he went all guns blazing and campaigned with the slogan 'Save Democracy'.
The BJP fielded a young doctor-turned-politician and debutant, Dr Panugothu Ravi Kumar Naik, who belongs to a tribal community and yet contested in an unreserved constituency - a fact which the party highlighted during its campaigning.
After nine rounds of counting:
TRS Nomula Bhagath - 32,598
Congress K Jana Reddy - 24,487