Telangana: Mahabubnagar MLC By-Election Underway, CM Revanth Revanth Casts His Vote

In the polls, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy voted from his home constituency, Kodangal.

The Congress and BRS are engaged in a fierce battle in Mahabubnagar by-elections on Thursday. While ruling Congress is striving to secure the seat, BRS is determined to wrestle for it.

In the polls, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy cast his vote from his home constituency, Kodangal. Additionally, as ex-officio members, MLAs from the combined Mahabubnagar district are also entitled to cast their votes.

Until noon on Thursday, the bypoll for the Telangana Legislative Council from Mahabubnagar Local Authorities' constituency recorded a turnout of over 57 percent. According to official sources, 57.33 percent of polling was observed across the 10 polling stations in the constituency. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Kasireddy Narayana Reddy following his election as a Congress MLA in the recent Legislative Assembly polls. 

In the Mahabubnagar constituency, there are a total of 1,439 eligible voters. The main contenders in this by-election are Congress candidate Manne Jeevan Reddy and BRS candidate Naveen Reddy. Additionally, there is an independent candidate in the race, Sudharshan Goud.

 

Concerned about the potential poaching of their elected representatives, the Congress and the BRS relocated them to Karnataka, Kerala, and Goa. They have now returned as of Wednesday.

The BRS holds a commanding majority in the local bodies having nearly swept the elections in 2019.

Currently, the BRS boasts a strength of 1,039 (71 per cent), followed by the Congress with 241 (16.67 per cent), the BJP with 119 (8.23 per cent), and others with 46 (3.18 per cent). However, there are concerns about possible cross-voting in the upcoming by-election, which is seen as significant for both parties in anticipation of the Lok Sabha polls, as per a report on IANS.

It must be noted that the BJP has decided not to contest in these elections.

 

The counting of votes is scheduled for April 2.