Hyderabad: An overwhelming 84.75 per cent of polling was recorded in the prestigious Huzurnagar Assembly byelection on Monday.
Although this was 1.62 percentage points less than in the 2018 Assembly elections, it was significantly higher than the 81.18 per cent polled in 2014.
The administration heaved a sigh of relief, as polling was completed without any untoward incidents.
Both the Congress and the TRS expressed confidence about coming up trumps. Counting of votes is scheduled for October 24 and the result is expected by noon the same day.
A total of 28 candidates are in the fray, including those fielded by the BJP and the Telugu Desam.
Since its creation, the Huzurnagar seat has been a virtual citadel of TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy as he was elected thrice in succession.
The ruling party is determined to wrest it from the Congress, this time around.
The byelection was necessitated after Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy vacated the seat, upon his election as Nalgonda MP. This now pits Mr S. Saidi Reddy (TRS), N. Padmavathi Reddy (Congress), Mr Kota Rama Rao (BJP) and the TD’s Chava Kiranmayi.
TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao predicted a big win for his party nominee. He said that according to information available with him, Mr Saidi Reddy was poised to win with a massive margin.
On his part, TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy pointed out that exit polls may favour the TRS, but the eventual outcome would be in favour of the Congress, whose candidate Padmavathi Reddy, he averred, will uphold the party’s track record in Huzurnagar Assembly constituency.
