Three candidates and one former nominee with the same name. But Wyra offers much more drama.
There is always an element of drama in an election which is swept comprehensively the way the TRS has stormed back to power in Telangana. But some constituencies witness much more drama than the average. Telangana's Wyra constituency has arguably been among the most dramatic constituency in this election season.
Wyra is a constituency reserved for candidate belonging to Scheduled Tribe communities. It is in the Khammam district in northern Telangana. As the votes were counted on Tuesday, an independent candidate was leading in their constituency, the only independent on the radar in the results of the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections.
The candidate, Lavudya Ramulu, led by 2165 votes over second placed Banoth Madanlal of the TRS and by over 19,000 votes over CPI candidate Banoth Vijaya (about 4:30 pm).
Here is the reason for the drama - Lavudya Ramulu is not just any independent. He is a rebel candidate from the Congress, who was disgruntled because the seat had been allocated to the CPI as part of the seat sharing arrangement of the Mahakutami alliance led by the Congress.
Ramulu filed two nominations, one as a Congress candidate, which was rejected, and the other as an independent. Meanwhile, CPI candidate Banoth Vijaya faced drama within her own party. A rebel candidate from within the CPI, Banoth Lal Singh, too filed his nomination as an independent. Banoth Lal Singh had to be persuaded to withdraw his nomination.
Both these candidates went up to unseat the last MLA from the seat, Banoth Madanlal. He had contested the 2014 election on a YSRCP ticket, and had jumped ship to the TRS after the formation of the state. This time, he is contesting on a TRS ticket.
Apparently, Wyra has more drama to offer. There are two more candidates with the name 'Banoth' who filed their nominations and one more 'Ramulu'. The constituency of 1.77 lakh eligible voters also saw over 2,300 votes cast for NOTA. We can't blame them, Wyra has indeed been confusing this season.
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 "Dramatic election in Wyra.")
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