BJP’s K. Venkata Ramana Reddy has proved to be a giant killer as he defeated Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandasekhar Rao and state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy, who is likely to be the next Chief Minister, in Kamareddy constituency.
The BJP candidate defeated his nearest rival KCR by a margin of 6,741 votes.
While Venkata Ramana Reddy, a local BJP leader, polled 66,652 votes, KCR secured 59,911 votes.
This is KCR’s first electoral defeat in nearly four decades. He had never lost an election since 1985.
Revanth Reddy finished third in Kamareddy, polling 54,916 votes.
There were many turns ever since the counting began in the morning. Revanth Reddy was leading over KCR till 12th round but from 13th round, the BJP candidate overtook both of them.
For a few rounds, KCR and Revanth Reddy fought for second and third position but the BJP candidate maintained the lead till the 20th and last round.
Venkat Ramna Reddy was the only local among the three main candidates. While KCR hails from undivided Medak district, Revanth Reddy comes from undivided Mahabubnagar district.
Both KCR and Revanth Reddy were elected from their home constituencies of Gajwel and Kodangal respectively.
While KCR was elected from Gajwel for a third consecutive term, Revanth Reddy emerged victorious in Kodangal. The Congress leader had suffered defeat in this constituency in 2018.
In Gajwel, KCR defeated former minister and BJP candidate Eatala Rajender by a margin of 45,031 votes. The BRS chief polled 1,11,648 votes while Rajender secured 66,653 votes. Congress party’s T. Narsa Reddy finished a distant third with 32,568 votes.
In Kodangal, Revanth Reddy trounced sitting MLA P. Narender Reddy of the BRS by 32,532 votes. He polled 1,07,429 votes while Narender Reddy garnered 74,897 votes. BJP’s Bantu Ramesh was a distant third with 3,988 votes.