BJP gets its first foothold in Andhra

HYDERABAD, March 3: Andhra Pradesh was one of the few states where the anti-incumbency bite was minimum, yet the Telugu Desam Party suffered...

HYDERABAD, March 3: Andhra Pradesh was one of the few states where the anti-incumbency bite was minimum, yet the Telugu Desam Party suffered a few reverses. The Congress retained its strength while the BJP secured its first footholds bagging four seats.

TDP and company together secured 15 seats as against 20 they had earlier, while the Congress won 22. The CPM lost all the three seats it contested while the CPI retained Nalgonda and Bhadrachalam but lost in Anantapur. The Janata Dal bagged the Mahboobnagar seat – all three allies of ruling TDP.

Congress, hoping the Sonia factors would do wonders, ultimately got just one extra seat to the 21 it held in the last Lok Sabha. Prominent among the winners are former chief ministers Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, N Janardhan Reddy and Nadendla Bhaskara Rao. Among the losers figure PCC president Mallikarjun, former Union ministers G Venkataswamy.

Story continues below this ad

On the TDP side, two Union ministers – K Yerran Naidu and S Venugopalachary – romped home while two of their colleagues BBuliramaiah and Ummareddy Venkateswarlu lost. While Higher Education Minister G M C Balayogi won from Amalapuram, Housing Minister M Rajaiah was declared elected from Siddipet.

Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who contested as a candidate of Janata Dal, an ally of TDP, regained the Mahboobnagar seat.

For Dattatreya it was revenge time as he defeated 1996 winner and former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao’s son, Rajeshwara Rao, by a huge majority of 1.85 lakh votes in Secunderabad.

Despite facing a tough fight, Vijayabhaskar Reddy won for the sixth time from Kurnool Lok Sabha constituency in Rayalaseema region.

SP leader Azam Khan walks out of jail after 23 months, hundreds of supporters welcome him

Cities2 hr ago

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, who is facing multiple cases, walked out of the Sitapur jail today after 23 months. He was scheduled to be released early Tuesday morning, but it was delayed due to impending court proceedings. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside the Sitapur jail, waiting for the SP leader to walk out of prison.

View all shorts

Live Blog