GHMC Elections: TRS Wins Neredmet Division

TRS candidate Meena Upender Reddy today won from the Neredmet division in the GHMC elections by prevailing over her rival, BJP candidate Prasanna Naidu.

Reddy's victory means that the TRS has now won the seats of 56 out of the GHMC's 150 divisions.

Speaking on the occasion, the TRS candidate said she was grateful to have won, and assured the people that she would work for the development of the division.

She also thanked Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and MAUD Minister K T Rama Rao for their support and help.

After the announcement of the results, the BJP candidate, however, alleged that the results had been manipulated, and accused the officials at the counting centre of favouring the TRS.

Neredmet returning officer Leena rubbished the charges as baseless.

"We conducted the counting as per the instructions of the High Court and the State Election Commission (SEC). Despite this, there have been allegations made against me. So, to clarify any misgivings regarding the fairness of the counting process, I will submit a report to the SEC," she added.

The results for the Neredmet division were announced late as the counting process had been stalled on December 4 after the Telangana High Court directed the SEC not to include 544 paper ballots with markings other than the pre-approved swastik symbol in the counting, in response to the BJP's complaints that the inclusion of the votes in question would violate election codes and norms.

The court later reversed the decision following the SEC's clarifications on the matter, and said that the disqualified votes could be considered valid as they too conveyed the intentions of the voters.

Even before the recount today, the TRS candidate had already secured a lead of 504 votes, and the inclusion of the contentious ballots only bolstered her lead as she finally won by a majority of 782 votes.