HYDERABAD: The Congress added to its strength in the Telangana Legislative Assembly, taking the number of its MLAs to 65 by winning the byelection Secunderabad Cantonment on Tuesday.
Congress candidate Sriganesh won the byelection with a margin of 13,206 votes over his nearest rival Dr TN Vamsha Tilak Lasya of the BJP, as per the data provided by Election Commission of India. Lasya Niveditha, the BRS candidate, polled 34,462 votes, far behind the 53,651 votes polled by Sriganesh.
With this the Congress strength in the Legislative Assembly has increased to 65 while the BRS strength dropped to 38.
The byelection was necessitated following the death of BRS legislator Lasya Nanditha in a car accident on February 23, just three months after she was elected to the Assembly.
G Sayanna, the father of Nanditha and Niveditha, too had expired while representing Cantonment constituency in the Assembly.