Though the Congress-backed candidate Chintapandu Naveen, also known as Teenmar Mallanna, emerged victorious in the byelection for the Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam graduate MLC constituency, BRS-backed candidate Anugula Rakesh Reddy, who presented a formidable challenge, would have won the seat, according to his supporters and analysts, if he had not quit the BJP and lost the support of BJP activists.
Despite securing 1,22,813 first preference votes, Mallanna did not achieve the required 50% threshold of 1,55,095 votes out of a total of 3,36,013 polled, necessitating the counting of second preference ballots.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supported candidate Anugula Rakesh Reddy provided a formidable challenge, garnering 1,04,248 first preference votes. BJP candidate Gujjula Premender Reddy received 43,313 votes after the elimination of the 47th candidate Durgaprasad. The lengthy counting process, which began on Wednesday and concluded on Friday night, involved eliminating candidates with the lowest second preference votes until Mallanna secured the necessary majority to be declared the winner.
In his post-result statement, Rakesh Reddy emphasised his moral victory despite the loss, highlighting the significant contest given the presence of 32 Congress MLAs, including the Deputy Chief Minister, within the graduate MLC electorate. He posited that the election outcome should serve as a wake-up call for those underestimating the BRS’ influence.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, in a tweet on X, acknowledged Rakesh Reddy’s efforts and encouraged him to remain positive and resilient despite the results.
A supporter of Rakesh Reddy observed that his alignment with the BJP could have altered the outcome, attributing the close race to Rakesh Reddy’s strong personal following. He pointed to the BJP’s improved performance in the last Lok Sabha elections as evidence of the party’s growing strength, hinting that Rakesh Reddy might have benefitted from remaining with the BJP rather than switching his loyalty to BRS.
Additionally, the BRS campaign strategy was criticised for its sneering rhetoric, framing the election as a choice between a candidate from a prestigious institution like ‘BITS-Pilani’ (Rakesh Reddy, a graduate from BITS-Pilani) and a ‘Palli-Batani’ (Mallanna, who is a graduate from a local university).
