Telangana movement gets major boost as TRS sweeps bypolls

In a result that is being seen as a referendum of sorts on dividing Andhra Pradesh, the separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) romped home on Friday in almost all the 12 constituencies of Telangana where bypolls were held on July 27, rendering the ruling Congress and key opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) insignificant.The bypolls were held after sitting MLAs resigned protesting the Centre’s decision to constitute a committee under justice BN Srikrishna to submit a report on the state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh with focus on statehood to Telangana. The MLAs wanted immediate creation of the state. All 119 MLAs from Telangana had agreed to resign six months ago, but Congress and TDP MLAs backed out. Ten TRS MLAs and one each from BJP and TDP, however, stuck to their guns. The lone TDP legislator joined TRS after resigning. The result of the bypolls shocked Congress and TDP. Though senior leaders of both parties had predicted it, the margin of victory of TRS shook them. TDP candidates lost deposits in four constituencies, while Congress candidates suffered a similar fate in two constituencies. Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas, who contested from Nizamabad, lost by about 12,000 votes to Y Lakshminarayana of BJP.By late Friday, results had been declared in seven constituencies. Of the seven, TRS won with huge margins in six, while BJP won the Nizamabad seat. In the remaining five constituencies, TRS candidates were leading with an average margin of about 25,000 votes. Harish Rao, TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao’s nephew, won from Siddipet by a margin of about 95,878 votes. In all the constituencies where results had been declared, the average margin was over 40,000 votes.“It was almost a one-sided affair. If you want to call it a referendum, so be it. The Congress high command has already taken note of the verdict in Telangana and it should definitely have an impact on the report to be submitted by justice Srikrishna,” a senior Congress leader said.“The result is a clear message to the UPA government. It is a resounding report to the Srikrishna committee on people’s demand for a Telangana state,” TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao said.