BRS wins MBNR local bodies constituency MLC bypoll

Hyderabad: The BRS candidate Naveen Kumar Reddy won the Mahabubnagar Local Bodies constituency MLC bypoll. He won, securing 762 votes and defeating his Congress rival, Manne Jeevan Reddy, by over 109 votes.

Out of the total 1,439 voters, 1,437 cast their votes, while only 1,416 were valid, and the quota fixed for the election was 709. While Congress candidate Jeevan Reddy got 653, Sudharshan Goud, an independent, got one vote. The bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of the incumbent MLC, Kasireddy Narayana Reddy. He won the Kalwakurthy seat during the Assembly elections in 2023 on a Congress ticket.

The process of counting was undertaken in Mahbubnagar on Sunday for the poll, which was held on March 28. “Naveen Kumar Reddy has been duly elected to fill the seat in that House (the Legislative Council) by the resignation of Kasireddy Narayana Reddy. The seat of Mahbubnagar Local Authority Constituency has been declared vacant,” informed the Returning Officer.

Former IT minister and BRS working president KT Rama Rao, former finance minister T Harish Rao, and other partymen expressed gratitude to the voters of the Mahabubnagar Local Bodies constituency for keeping faith in the party’s leadership. KTR felt that it was an indication of the ‘changing political dynamics’ in the State.

In his statement, KTR emphasised that the BRS successfully contested this election against the ruling party’s enticements, shining a light on the failures of Congress’s governance within a mere six months. He felt that this election was a clear demonstration of the electorate’s discontent with the current ruling party and their trust in BRS’s vision for Telangana.

“Winning the MLC seat in the Chief Minister’s home district is a moment of pride for us. This victory not only brings joy but also significantly increases our responsibilities. We are confident that this victory is just the beginning and will pave the way for many more successes in the future,” said KTR while expressing his happiness over the victory to the pink party.

Reacting over the loss, the ruling Congress felt that the BRS might have won the bypoll ‘technically’, but it was a ‘moral victory’ for the Congress, as the party never indulged in wrongful means to win the poll.

Minister Jupally Krishna Rao claimed that there was cross-voting, as the Congress received the votes of public representatives of both the BRS and the BJP. He further said that the Congress was able to increase its votes from 340 earlier to more than 650, and BRS would become a non-entity within the next 48 hours after Lok Sabha results are announced.

“The decimation of the party began at the time of the Assembly and it will completely become a non-entity after the Parliamentary results. Henceforth, Congress would continue to win in any of the future election contests,” he asserted.