It’s people’s endorsement, says KCR on by-election win

Hyderabad: With TRS wresting Palair assembly seat with a massive majority, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday said this was a clear endorsement of the government’s functioning by the people.

Thanking the people of Palair for the mandate, he said the victory had further added to the responsibility of the government to build a golden Telangana and fulfill the aspirations of people.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate and state minister for roads and buildings T. Nageswara Rao won the assembly seat in Khammam district with a margin of 45,676 votes over his nearest rival Sucharitha Reddy of Congress party.

The death of Ramreddy Venkat Reddy caused the by-election and Congress fielded his widow Sucharitha to apparently cash in on sympathy factor.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party had also backed the Congress candidate.

KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, said the TRS win was not an ordinary one as Congress was seeking sympathy votes.

TRS had scored huge win in a similar situation in Narayankhed assembly constituency in Medak district earlier this year.

The Khammam victory is the latest in a series of electoral victories for the TRS. The ruling party, which also retained Medak and Warangal Lok Sabha seats in the by-elections with huge margins, also won the municipal polls in Hyderabad, Warangal and Khammam recently.

“TRS has won every election held after formation of its government in 2014,” he said.

KCR said TRS, which polled only 4,100 votes in Palair in 2014 elections, has increased its votes by 24 times.

IANS