TRS completes grand sweep, TD loses all deposits, Congress in 4 seats

(Courtesy : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/trs-completes-grand-sweep-td-loses-all-deposits-congress-4-seats-413)

It was a landslide victory for the Telangana Rashtra Samiti candidates in 11 out of 12 Assembly constituencies that went for by-polls in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on July 27. The 12th seat, Nizamabad-Urban, went to the TRS' ally, the BJP.

By early morning on Saturday when the results were announced at the end of a lengthy counting process that began on Friday, some of the TRS victors set new records in the state's electoral history.

For the first time in its political history, the Telugu Desam had to forfeit deposits in all the 12 Assembly segments while ruling Congress met with the same fate in four constituencies.

In Siddipet in Medak district, T. Harish Rao, nephew of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, set a new record by winning the by-election with a margin of 95,858 votes against his Congress rival Srinivas Goud. The Congress as well as the TDP, which stood third here, lost the deposits.

Harish Rao won from Siddipet for fourth consecutive time. his victory margin is said to be by far the largest margin ever recorded in the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Interestingly, the Medak district administration, led by collector S. Suresh Kumar, also set a record by completing the counting process in just over 90 minutes.

TRS candidate Gaddam Aravinda Reddy retained his Mancherial seat in Adilabad district with a record margin of 78,047 votes as against 13,827 he got in 2009.

Reddy's victory margin is the second largest after Harish Rao's in the bypolls. The Congress lost its deposit in Mancherial as well.

Koppula Easwar, another notable TRS candidate, improved his victory margin from modest 1,484 votes in 2009 to a staggering 58,891 to bag the Dharmapuri seat in Karimnagar district.

TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao's son K. Taraka Rama Rao secured a handsome margin of 44,642 votes in the by-election from Sircilla.

It is a sweet victory for Rama Rao this time in more ways than one as he scraped through with a margin of just 173 votes against the TRS rebel candidate K.K. Mahender Reddy in his first electoral battle in 2009.

Mahender Reddy was the Congress' official nominee this time but lost his deposit following the bitter defeat.

TRS' Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar saw his victory margin in Warangal West constituency swell ten-fold from 6,684 last year to 67,524 this time.

Similarly, the victory margins of E. Rajender and K. Vidyasagar Rao have more than tripled in Huzurabad and Korutla Assembly segments as compared to the 2009 general elections.

Rajender secured a majority of 55,360 votes this time compared to 15,035 while Vidyasagar Rao got 56,525 now as against 15,545 in 2009.

The Vemulawada (Karimnagar district) TRS nominee Chennamaneni Ramesh too put up an impressive show, romping home with a margin of 50,451 votes this time.

As the TD candidate in 2009, Ramesh had managed to get a majority of only 1,821 votes. Upon quitting his MLA seat on the statehood issue in February this year, Ramesh walked out of the TD and joined the TRS.

An intervention by the High Court, by-election to this seat was conducted along with other segments, paved the way for Ramesh's re-election.

In Chennur (SC) in Adilabad district, TRS candidate N. Odelu won by a margin of 44,284 votes — almost four times higher than the margin (11,549) he secured in 2009.

The TRS nominee Kaveti Sammaiah too doubled his margin from 7,414 in 2009 to 15,229 now. He beat Congress' ex-MP Indrakaran Reddy who aspired to become a Cabinet minister by winning the by-election.

Another TRS candidate. E. Ravinder Reddy, was, however, not so fortunate as he could improve his victory margin only by a few hundred votes this time. Compared to the 36,859-vote margin he got in 2009, Rajender managed to take it up only to 37,535 in this time.

The results of the five constituencies came late, as ballot papers were used for polling as a number of candidates exceeded the maximum limit of 64 for an EVM.

For Y. Lakshminarayana, the lone BJP winner in the by-elections who trounced Pradesh Congress Committee president D. Srinivas in Nizamabad Urban, it was an improvement of only 966 votes in the victory margin. In 2009, Lakshminarayana won by a margin of 11,015 votes and this time by 11,981 votes.

The by-polls were necessitated as the sitting MLAs - 10 from TRS and one each from TD and BJP - had quit their post in support of separate Telangana demand.

TRS win a referendum on separate state

(Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/TRS-win-a-referendum-on-separate-state-KCR/articleshow/6239116.cms)

Calling the sweeping victory of TRS candidates in the by elections as a victory of Telangana martyrs who died during the agitation for separate T state and four crore Telangana people, the TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said that the party dedicates its victory to all those people who supported them in the byelections and thanked the JAC for playing a key role in the victory of the party candidates.

At a press conference on Friday evening, Rao said that the party leaders should not feel elated by the victory. It has put greater responsibility on them. The victory was a step forward in the direction of achieving a separate state, he said.

Referring to the defeat of Congress and TDP candidates, he said it was a slap on their face. They lost their deposits despite spending Rs 200 crore, he said. Rao also criticised TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu of indulging in 'screw driver' politics. KCR said he would now focus attention on strengthening the party organisation. Rao said the Centre should call for the Srikrishna committee report immediately and bifurcate the state respecting the verdict of the people before December 31. "It is nothing but a referendum. If they fail they will heavy price in future." Talking of the party's support to BJP in Nizamabad urban, he said it was a special case but in future we will fight all election on our own, he added.

He said the Telangana JAC, which has a strong presence in the region, played an active role in the victory of the TRS by mobilising the government employees, lawyers associations, minorities and student organisations to rally for the separate state cause and vote for the TRS on polling day.

The JAC fulfilled its promise of taking the responsibility of victory of MLAs who had resigned in February in protest against the constitution of Srikrishna Committee to study the contentious Telangana issue.

The joint action committee organised massive awareness programmes like bus yatras, padayatras and village-level meetings to educate people about the importance of ensuring the victory of MLAs who had resigned. In fact it is the victory of the JAC more than the TRS, claim JAC leaders.

More than 20 lakh students, 3 lakh government employees and one lakh advocates actively participated in the campaign during the bypolls, JAC official spokesperson Vittal told TOI. "JAC played a crucial role in the election by galvanising all telangana forces from grass root level.

Another JAC leader said that all out efforts were made in three assembly constituencies - Dharmapuri, Ellareddy and Sirpur from where TRS MLAs contested as there was strong anti feelings against the candidates as they allegedly ignored the people and failed to respond to their local problems and pleas since they got elected in 2009.

The JAC organised continuous meetings with local community leaders and telangana supporters and explained to them about the necessity to vote for them in view of the special circumstances.