Telangana bypoll: TRS wins Munugode battle, but BJP sounds bugle for the bigger contest

The TRS and BJP had pulled out all the stops to win the by-election, with the high-decibel campaign eventually ending in an unprecedented 93% polling.

The counting was a see-saw affair, with the TRS and BJP trading leads. It was only after the fifth round that the TRS’s K Prabhakar Reddy started pulling ahead, gaining over 500 votes more than the BJP’s K Raj Gopal Reddy in every round. At the end of counting, the tally stood at 97,006 votes for the TRS, 86,697 for the BJP, and 23,906 for the Congress’s Palvai Sravanthi Reddy.

The Congress had won Munugode in 2018, when Raj Gopal was its candidate. His defection to the BJP had necessitated the bypoll.

Having lost two of three by-elections in the last two years to the BJP, the Munugode win, seen as an indicator of where the wind is blowing ahead of 2023, will be a relief for the TRS. Its tactful tie-up with the Left parties, and the diversion of some of the votes Raj Gopal won last time to the Congress and BSP, both helped the TRS. The BSP’s A Sankara Chari polled 3,091 votes.

However, the breather will be short-lived as the results are a clear indicator that the TRS – which is planning an ambitious national leap – cannot take the BJP for granted in the state.

The TRS had deployed 14 state ministers and at least 50-60 MLAs to cover every inch of Munugode, and highlight the state’s “national role model” schemes.

On Sunday, the TRS exuded confidence, with Minister T Harish Rao saying: “This win is due to the TRS’s welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bhima, and Dalita Bandhu. These schemes have changed people’s lives.”

Raj Gopal said he accepted the verdict of the people but attributed it to the TRS’s “misuse of the administration and police”. “They did not allow me to campaign properly. They violated poll codes. TRS leaders including ministers distributed cash and liquor while polling was on. MLAs and ministers camped in every village and threatened the people to vote for the TRS or they would lose their welfare benefits,’’ the BJP candidate claimed.

Sources in the BJP said some votes they counted on from Choutuppal and Munugode mandals did not materialise in their favour. Towards the end of counting, the TRS led in all the seven mandals in the constituency. The BJP had campaigned on “failed promises’’ and alleged corruption in the K Chandrashekar Rao-led state government.

There was silence in the Congress camp, which is the main Opposition in the state but now facing the prospect of losing that spot. Though much has been made of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra coinciding in Telangana with the bypoll, its campaign in Munugode actually lost steam after the entire state leadership was withdrawn to participate in the march.

The drastic collapse of the Congress was also evident in the fact that in December 2018, as its candidate, Raj Gopal had got as many as 99,239 votes amidst a TRS sweep – 35,000-plus more than the TRS’s Prabhakar Reddy. The BJP’s Manohar Reddy had polled only 12,725 votes.

The constituency has over 60% Backward Classes population, and, as is the case with every election in Munugode, they appear to have not voted enmasse for any single party.

The counting of votes took long as there were 47 candidates in the fray.