TRS won by-election with sympathy votes: Congress

Hyderabad: The Congress stated that the ruling party was able to win the Huzurnagar bypoll as the voters have shown sympathy towards their party candidate.

Addressing the media, working president of the Pradesh Congress Committee Ponnam Prabhakar said that the voters have shown sympathy towards TRS candidate Saidi Reddy as he has been losing to Congress since two times.

The Congress leader mentioned that the ruling party has spent as much as Rs 50 crore to win the by-poll. He said that money politics have won in Huzurnagar over the democracy. He stated the government deputed eight ministers as in-charges for the by-poll.

Ponnam admitted that the voters have not taken the slogan of the Congress that Huzurnagar byelection would be a State issue. He said that people have preferred development of the constituency over the State issue.

Prabhakar said that the RTC strike and other issues have not shown any impact on the voting patter in the by-poll. He informed that there was no bus depot in the constituency. Targeting the BJP, he said that the BJP which has boasted of itself as an alternative to the TRS has bitten the dust, adding the saffron party candidate has failed to secure deposit in Huzurnagar by-poll.

Prabhakar said that once again it has been proved that the Congress was the only alternative to the ruling TRS in the State. He said that the results of the polls to Maharashtra and Haryana Assemblies were also encouraging. The Congress leader said that the votes and seats of the party have improved in the present polls.

He said that the NDA government thought that abrogation of Article 370 and others would fetch votes in Assembly elections. But, it has failed to get the expected results. Meanwhile, former president of PCC Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that repealing the Article 370 and military strikes in PoK have not made any benefit to the BJP.

He said that the military strikes have been carried out in PoK a day ahead of the polling in two States. But, people have not fallen to the sentiment politics and voted with discretion.