Telangana poll results: KCR sweeps, wins 88 of 119 seats

Hyderabad: The pink tsunami buried not just the Mahakutumi but also the BJP. No one survived except the MIM, which sided with the giant. The verdict was emphatic and it was clear. If it is Telangana, it has to be KCR. No wonder Kutami got a pink slip. 

The people of Telangana made it more than clear he is the only man they trust to govern the state. Caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao led the Telangana Rashtra Samiti to a sweep on Tuesday, winning 88 of 119 seats in the first Assembly election in the separate state.

It was a foregone conclusion that the TRS would win. There really was no wave against him or his policies and certainly no talk of the Congress at the ground level. What is breathtaking is the extent of the sweep.

Senior Congress leaders like J. Geeta Reedy, K. Jana Reddy, T. Jeevan Reddy and A. Revanth Reddy have lost. The BJP’s Dr K. Laxman and G. Kishan Reddy who have won consistently faced defeat.

If it is argued that the BJP stalwarts lost thanks to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who wanted to change the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar, then the Congress certainly lost by tying up TD president and AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu — an arch rival — and the TJS which did not even open its account. By converting the electoral battle into one against Mr Naidu, Mr KCR certainly reaped huge dividends.

The Congress argument on Mr Rao being seen as the ‘B team’ of the BJP cut no ice with the electorate as Muslims seem to have voted hugely in favour of the TRS. Except for the Khammam region and the Adivasi pockets, the TRS won them all in one of the grand sweeps in the Telugu states.