BJP makes inroads in Telangana, wrests 3 seats from TRS (2nd Lead)

Making inroads in Telangana, the BJP wrested three seats from the TRS and retained one seat while the Congress also wrested two seats from the ruling party and retained one.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which was hoping for a clean sweep, could win only nine out of 17 seats while its ally All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained Hyderabad.

In 2014, the TRS had bagged 11 seats while three MPs from other parties had later switched loyalties to the ruling party.

The BJP improved its tally from one to four while the Congress increased its numbers from two to three.

TRS President and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter K. Kavitha suffered a shocking defeat in Nizamabad at the hands of the BJP's D. Arvind.

The BJP also wrested the Adilabad and Karimnagar seats from the TRS. In Karimnagar, TRS senior leader Vinod Kumar lost to the BJP's Bandi Sanjay Kumar by 89,508 votes.

The Congress wrested Bhongir from the TRS as its senior leader K. Venkat Reddy defeated sitting MP B. Narsaiah Goud.

In Chevella, the Congress party's Konda Vishweshwar Reddy lost to G. Ranjith Reddy of the TRS. Vishweshwar Reddy, a leading businessman and one of the richest MPs in the previous Lok Sabha, was elected from this constituency in 2014 on a TRS ticket but had crossed over to the Congress recently.

In Khammam, the Congress party's senior leader and former Union Minister Renuka Chowdary was defeated by Nama Nageswar Rao of the TRS. In the previous election, the YSRCP's P. Srinivasa Reddy was elected from here and he later joined the TRS.

In Malkajgiri, India's largest Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress party's A. Revanth Reddy defeated M. Rajasekhar Reddy of the TRS. This seat was won by the TDP's Malla Reddy in 2014 but he later switched over to the TRS.

The TRS retained the Medak, Mahabubnagar, Mahabubabad, Peddapalle, Warangal and Zahirabad seats and wrested Nagarkurnool from the Congress.

The Congress' Uttam Kumar Reddy was elected from Nalgonda, defeating his nearest rival V. Narasimha Reddy by 25,682 votes. In 2014, the Congress party's G. Sukhender Reddy was elected from here but he later joined the TRS.

The BJP retained Secunderabad, where its leader G. Kishan Reddy defeated TRS candidate T. Sai Kiran Yadav.

--IANS

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