BRS working president KT Rama Rao leads over Congress rival KK Mahender Reddy in Telangana’s Sircilla

In Sircilla segment, BRS working president K T Rama Rao is leading by more than 204 votes over his nearest Congress rival KK Mahender Reddy after the first round of counting was completed. Two hours into the counting of votes for the Telangana Assembly elections, the Congress is maintaining its lead on 70 seats, surging ahead of the ruling BRS as it gains on 37 seats. The BJP and AIMIM are trailing with leads in 8 and 3 seats. The majority mark in the 119-seat Telangana Legislative Assembly is 60. Two of Congress’s three chief ministerial frontrunners are trailing from their respective constituencies. Revanth Reddy is trailing in both Kamareddy and Kodangal, while Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu is trailing in Madhira. But Danasari Anasuya Seethakka, a former Naxalist, is leading from Mulug. In the high-voltage polls in the southern state on November 30, “founding father” K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi’ is banking on its social welfare programmes to stay on top while the Congress is aiming for a repeat of its electoral success in neighbouring Karnataka. The BJP, on the other hand, is hoping to make inroads into the state to expand its reach in South India. In the 119-seat Telangana Assembly, the parties will need to reach the magic number of 60 to form a government. In a seat-sharing agreement, the BJP and Jana Sena contested on 111 and 8 seats, respectively while the Congress gave one seat to its ally CPI. Most exit polls have given Congress the edge, predicting a victory on more than 60 seats with BRS taking the second place, winning over 40 seats and the BJP trailing behind, registering a win on only 7 seats. “I think Congress defeating a regional party like BRS is huge. That’s the big headline. In Chhattisgarh, our showing despite BJP trying every dirty trick is big. In Rajasthan, this is our best performance,” said Supriya Shrinate, Congress spokesperson as counting in all the five states which went to polls last month progressed.