KARIMNAGAR: As counting began at SRR Government Degree College in Karimnagar on Tuesday, it became clear right from round 1 that BJP’s Eatala Rajender was firmly entrenched in the driving seat.The TRS seemed to have a glimmer of hope when it managed a slender lead in the eighth and 11th rounds as the day progressed. TRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav led by 162 votes over Rajender in the eighth round when TRS secured 4,248 votes, BJP 4,086 and Congress candidate Balmoor Venkat Narsing Rao managed a mere 89 votes.
Similarly, in the 11th round, TRS led by 385 votes. TRS secured 4,326 votes, BJP secured 3,941 and Congress 104 votes.Voters did not support TRS’ Srinivas Yadav even in Venkataravupalle, where the Yadav community is predominant. Even in Shalapally, where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched the Dalit Bandhu scheme, the pink party faced a similar situation. However, in the postal ballot TRS secured majority votes of 455 among the 777 polled votes. BJP secured 242 votes, Congress-2 and 48 votes were rejected.
Harish Rao’s adoption bid flops
Mamidalapalli of Veenavanka mandal delivered another body blow to the TRS since Rajender got a majority here as well. This is where Finance Minister T Harish Rao promised villagers that if the TRS won, he would adopt Mamidalapalli and develop it into a model village.
Even native village doesn’t back srinivas
Gellu Srinivas’s native village of Himmatnagar too did not stand by him. Here, he got 358 votes while Rajender bagged 549 votes. Even his sasural, i.e voters in Srinivas’ wife’s village, Peddapapayyapalle of Huzurabad mandal gave Rajender a majority of 76 votes