Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's party TRS has won the by-election in Telangana's Munugode by over 10,000 votes. The TRS candidate, K Prabhakar Reddy, did face a tough fight from the BJP's K Rajagopal Reddy.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), recently renamed as Bharat Rashtra Samithi, had gone all out with the Chief Minister, or KCR, holding public meetings and deploying his entire team of ministers and MLAs to ensure a win.
The TRS candidate, K Prabhakar Reddy, took a significant lead to be declared the winner eventually. K Rajagopal Reddy, the BJP candidate, was with the Congress earlier. The by-election was necessitated after he quit the Congress to join the BJP.
Mr Reddy's defeat would be a humiliating turn for him.
The campaigns ahead of the Munugode bypoll saw heavy spending by both the TRS and the BJP.
TRS supporters and workers burst into celebrations at the party headquarters in Hyderabad. Over 93 per cent polling was reported in the bypoll held on November 3.
For KCR, the Munugode bypoll was a prestige battle as a BJP victory would have signalled a crack in the TRS' defensive line, through which the BJP would have entered and worked to expand its presence.
For the Congress too, it was a humiliating defeat with Palvai Sravanthi losing her deposit. Ms Sravanthi told NDTV they knew they were up against money, liquor and two ruling governments.
After Himachal Tie Loss, Abhishek Singhvi Up For Telangana Rajya Sabha Seat Another KCR Party MLA Joins Congress, 7th Lawmaker To Switch Since Dec 2023 KCR's Power Deals Caused Rs 6,000-Crore Loss To Telangana: Sources Spoke Of Reunification Under India: Sources On Lalduhoma's Viral Old Speech "Cowardly Attempts To Intimidate Diplomats": PM's 1st Comments On Canada Row US Election 2024: Donald Trump Leads Kamala Harris In All Swing States What If The US Election Ends In A Trump-Kamala Harris Tie? Abortion Rights Issue Influencing Indian American Women's Voting Preference Israel Says Hit Hezbollah Intel Headquarters In Syria Strike Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.