K. Chandrashekhar Rao led his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to a resounding victory, crushing Congress-led alliance in India's youngest state, riding high on Telangana pride and welfare schemes.
Beating all expectations of pre-poll surveys and exit polls, the TRS bagged 88 seats in the 119-member Assembly to retain the power with more than two-thirds majority.
The gamble for early polls appeared to have paid rich dividends for the regional party, which received the massive mandate in the first general election in the four-year-old state.
The Congress-led People's Front, which was expected to give a tough fight to TRS, managed only 21 seats.
TRS chief and Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao, who was re-elected from Gajwel constituency, termed the massive win as "people's victory". He said this was a positive vote for the work done by TRS for the welfare and development.
"This victory has added responsibility on us to fulfil the aspirations of people," he said and claimed that with all sections of people backing the TRS, the result had shown the way to the nation for a non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and non-Congress alternative.
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KCR's son K.T. Rama Rao and nephew Harish Rao also retained Sircilla and Siddipet constituencies. However, four of KCR's other cabinet colleagues were defeated as also Assembly Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary.
The TRS had bagged 63 seats in 2014 but increased its tally to 90 with over two dozen MLAs from other parties crossing over to the ruling party. It had fielded all sitting legislators and most of them retained their seats.
The party recorded massive victory in all regions. Barring Khammam district, it made almost a clean sweep in north Telangana and dominated south Telangana. It also made huge inroads in Greater Hyderabad, where TDP-BJP alliance had won majority of seats in the previous election.
People rejected the alliance between the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as the four-party People's Front faced a severe drubbing.
The Congress won just 19 seats, two less than its tally in 2014. Many top leaders of Congress party including those seen as chief ministerial candidates were defeated. They include floor leader in the dissolved Assembly K. Jana Reddy, party's state working presidents Revanth Reddy and Ponnam Prabhakar and former central minister Sarve Satyanarayana.
The TDP, which had won 15 seats in 2014 elections, bagged only two seats. Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI), two other constituents of People's Front, drew a blank.
BJP, which had 5 seats in the dissolved Assembly, could retain only one seat.
Continuing its domination in Hyderabad, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained all seven seats it held in the dissolved House.
As many as 73.20 per cent of 2.80 crore electorate voted in the elections held in all 119 constituencies on Friday.
KCR dissolved the Assembly in September, eight months before its term was to end.
Initially focussing on welfare and development schemes, KCR made Telangana pride a key issue when the TDP joined hands with the Congress.
Portraying TDP President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as an enemy of Telangana's interests, the TRS chief had urged people not to allow outsiders to decide their future.
--IANS
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