NALGONDA: It was a nail-biting moment for both the ruling TRS and its rival BJP as the fortunes swung from one side to another like pendulum during the counting of votes in the Munugode byelection. Though TRS’ candidate Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy finally emerged victorious by 10,113 majority there were moments when his rival Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy’s victory chances looked bright.
Hopes of victory for both the candidates rose and fell as round by round counting continued. The TRS’ candidate started off leading by 1,292 votes. Soon, BJP’s Rajagopal Reddy overtook the rival with 950 votes in the second round. The third round saw the BJP lead falling to 164 votes. In the fourth round, the TRS candidate limped back in the reckoning with 299 vote edge.
Prabhakar Reddy continued to edge past Rajagopal Reddy from fifth to 15th round. The BJP’s hopes of securing more votes in Choutuppal mandal were dashed and effectively sealed the fate of Rajagopal Reddy. The BJP had hopes of securing a lead of at least 5,000-10,000 votes over the TRS in the mandal, but Rajagopal Reddy ended up polling 5,126 votes out of the total 60,000.
Rajagopal Reddy who came out of the counting centre in Nalgonda after the fifth round of counting for breakfast, said, “Our party is strong in Choutuppal and we were hoping that we would get a majority there. But TRS has gained.”
Political observers in the district gave full credit to the BJP for its performance in Munugode bypoll, considering the fact that it had lost deposit in the previous elections. Losing by a small margin to the mighty ruling TRS, the saffron party showed its resilience.
BJP’s improved performance acknowledged
Political observes in the district gave full credit to the BJP for its performance in Munugode bypoll, considering the fact that it had lost deposit in the previous elections