BJP candidate M. Raghunandan Rao won the by-election to Dubbak Assembly contitutency by a margin of 1,079 votes against TRS candidate S. Sujatha, wife of late MLA S. Ramalinga Reddy who passed away about three months ago there by necessitating the by-election. The election was held on November 3.
Mr. Rao polled 63,352 votes against 62,273 of S. Sujatha and 22,196 of Congress candidate Ch Srinivas Reddy, son of late minister Ch. Muthyam Reddy. NOTA got 554 votes. The Congress forfeited its deposit.
From the beginning of counting of votes at an engineering college here today, it was a see-saw battle between BJP and TRS with Congress remaining a poor third though the party was expected to offer a tough fight. Except in five rounds of counting, Congress could not cross three-figure mark.
Before the announcement of results, EVMs pertaining to Pothareddypeet of Dubbak mandal (413) votes, Etigaddakishtapur of Toguta mandal (583), Surampally (314 votes) and Arepally of Dultabad mandal (339) could not be opened due to snag, leading to tension among supporters of political parties. Finally, officials counted votes based on Voter- Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs). This resulted in increasing the number of rounds from the earlier stated 23 to 25. The declaration of result was delayed as the officials were forced to take up counting of VVPATs manually.
“This is a judgment by the people of Dubbak against the dictatorial rule of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. I will serve the people of Dubbak till my last breath,” said Mr Raghunandan Rao.
It was weeks of planning and execution by the activists of BJP which made the victory possible.
