Defeated in state polls, this time it’s different for these BJP, Cong candidates
Bandi Sanjay of the BJP, who won from Karimnagar Lok Sabha, had lost from Karimnagar City to TRS rival Gangula Kamalkar with a margin of 14,974 votes in the Assembly polls.
. Two out of three Congress candidates who won, had also lost in the Assembly elections. (File)
Call it a twist of fate, the reaping of benefit of a pro-Modi wave or a localised anti-TRS sentiment, the four BJP Lok Sabha candidates who won in Telangana, had actually lost in the state’s Assembly elections held last December. Two out of three Congress candidates who won, had also lost in the Assembly elections.
n G Kishan Reddy, the former Telangana BJP state president, had lost to TRS rival K Venkatasham in Amberpet constituency by a margin of 1,008 votes in the Assembly elections. On Thursday, Kishan Reddy won from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP had dropped sitting MP Bandaru Dattatreya. Kishan defeated TRS’s Sai Talasani, son of state minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, who is a close aide of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi and eastern UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in New Delhi. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)
Bandi Sanjay of the BJP, who won from Karimnagar Lok Sabha, had lost from Karimnagar City to TRS rival Gangula Kamalkar with a margin of 14,974 votes in the Assembly polls. In the Lok Sabha polls, Sanjay won with a margin of 38,902, defeating senior TRS leader B Vinod Kumar. TRS chief Rao had won from this seat three times and this seat was considered a TRS bastion. Kumar is considered to be a political strategist for the TRS. His defeat is a big blow to the party.
Dharmapuri Arvind of the BJP proved to be a giant-killer in these elections. He defeated TRS’s K Kavitha with a majority of 69,000 votes. Arvind lost from Nizamabad Urban to the TRS in the the last Assembly elections. As there was no other candidate to take on Kavita in Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, the BJP had nominated him.
Soyam Bapu Rao, a tribal leader, had lost from Boath Assembly constituency in 2014. He was given the BJP ticket from Adilabad as there were no better candidate willing to contest from that constituency. In the pro-BJP wave, he won with a majority of more than 50,000 votes.
“As there were no other candidates to take the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the BJP renominated them and they all won due to the Modi wave. We would have won a fifth seat in Malkajgiri. Unfortunately, our candidate N Ramachander lost with a narrow margin to Congress’s Revanth,” said BJP Telangana chief Dr K Laxman, referring to the narrow victory of A Revanth Reddy.
Three Congress candidates also cashed in on the anti-incumbency sentiment. They are:
A Revanth Reddy, working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Commitee (TPCC), had actually lost in his home Assembly constituency of Kodangal last December. “He could not win as MLA but won as MP… this is incredible,” a TRS leader said. A staunch critic of KCR, the TRS had vowed to defeat Revanth Reddy in the Assembly elections but were unable to defeat him in Lok Sabha polls. Revanth Reddy won with a margin of over 10,000 votes.
Komatireddy Venkatreddy of the Congress won in Bhongir against his TRS rival with a narrow margin of less than 5,000. In 2014, the TRS’s B Narasiah won with a majority of over 5,000 votes.
N Uttam Kumar Reddy, the TPCC chief, recorded one of the biggest victories for the Congress in Nalgonda. Uttam had won the December Assembly elections from Huzurnagar, under Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat, with a margin of 25,499 votes. This time, Congress president Rahul Gandhi hand-picked him to contest from Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat. Uttam won with a margin of 25,388 votes, defeating TRS candidate V Narasimha Reddy.
Konda Visheshwar Reddy of the Congress was leading in Chevella Parliamentary constituency where there is a neck and neck fight going on.
Sreenivas Janyala is a Deputy Associate Editor at The Indian Expr... Read More
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